Shinigami: Death of the Old World
by crazyeightpianogal
Summary: Things are changing in the shinigami realm, and answers are coming, whether the shinigami are prepared or not. What really happened to Rem? And what else is the Shinigami King not telling them? Set after DN One-shot.
1. Prologue

_When Zellogi had noticed that his lifespan was nearing its end, he managed to sneak away from Gukku and Deridovely for a while in order to go down to the holes that showed the human world. He chose one fairly out of the way, so that no one would stumble across him while he was writing down names. The holes were spread out over a wide, desert-like area that went on as far as the eye could see, but being on the outer edge of the large ring of holes, Zellogi could also see the area filled with large, spiked bones arranged in tunnels and caves, plus the occasional wind-carved rock formation. The largest, most prominent rock by far had been carved into a shining black tower, impossibly tall and elegant, yet menacingly jagged, from which the Shinigami King was suspended. The tower was the only thing of structure or artistry in the entire shinigami realm. No one knew who had carved it, or when…the idea of a shinigami having enough ambition to do so was laughable._

_Zellogi sat and scribbled for a while, and he had killed about sixty years worth of humans when he decided to check out what Ryuk was doing. He'd been back in the shinigami realm for a while, and he'd told Zellogi a bit about the human world-it sounded like Ryuk was having a lot of fun down there. But then his death note was picked up by a human again, and he'd had to leave just hours ago. According to Ryuk, this was a part of some big scheme his human was planning-he'd told the other shinigami that it would probably be interesting to watch, if they were ever looking down on the human world. Zellogi wouldn't be able to find Ryuk with the holes because they were meant to find humans, but Zellogi had found Ryuk before by simply scanning Japan for him. It was easy to find Ryuk now; all one had to do was look for the human he was attached to. Zellogi concentrated on the human's face and thought "Light Yagami", and sure enough, there was Ryuk._

_He was standing inside the lobby of a huge building, while his human and another human; a female, named "Misa Amane"; were talking. The humans finished talking, and the girl left the building while Ryuk's human went back inside… but Ryuk followed the girl, instead. Now, that was different. Why was Ryuk attached to this girl? Was it part of the plan Ryuk's human supposedly had? He kept half of the hole trained on Ryuk and the girl, and the other half on Ryuk's human, who went back to a room full of computers, with several other male humans wearing suits and another, odd-looking human crouched in a chair. There was another shinigami in the room, a white female that Zellogi didn't recognize. The humans were talking… they seemed to be discussing the death note. The odd-looking human and Ryuk's human were asking the shinigami questions…they could both see her? Did everyone in the room know about death notes? Now Zellogi was really confused. He watched while the humans talked, slept, then got up the next morning and started talking again. Things weren't getting as interesting as he'd hoped…Zellogi was tempted to kill one of them, just for fun…but suddenly, all of the holes flashed quickly and faded to black. Without the light from the screens or the sounds of the human world that the holes emitted, the area was eerily dark and quiet, like a graveyard with many round, blank tombstones. _

_Bewildered, Zellogi knocked on the side of his hole, and then kicked it, but it didn't turn back on. Wind whistled between the silent round devices, and Zellogi heard another sound…the rustling of wings, far away. He looked toward the sound, and saw something jump off the very top of the King's tower and fly over the viewing holes. "A shinigami?" Zellogi thought at first. "No, it can't be… shinigami aren't allowed to fly above the fifth level of the King's tower, and actually landing on the tower is even worse…" But Zellogi still wondered as the dark shape soared over the desert and out of sight. At a loss for what else to do, Zellogi sat and waited for the holes to come back on, since a measly sixty years wasn't nearly enough to make his trip to the holes worthwhile. _

_He didn't have to wait long before he heard the rustling of wings again. He looked up. The dark shape was returning from the same direction that it had gone…no, now there were two shapes, but they were too high up to truly see what they were. He was starting to feel more and more uneasy as the two shapes landed on the top of the king's tower, and seemed to disappear inside. Going inside the tower?! Zellogi didn't know the exact punishment for that, but he was pretty sure it was probably a harsh one. He looked at the King, expecting him to say something to the interlopers, to demand that they come out and receive punishment… but the King did nothing. He just hung there, utterly inert, his two faces blank, his many arms just dangling. Zellogi was starting to get nervous. This whole situation just didn't feel right. _

_Suddenly, a scream emanated from the tower, a scream of shock and terror and pain…and it scared Zellogi, not because he'd never heard a scream before; he'd seen several deaths in his lifetime; but because the scream was…alien. It didn't sound like it came from any human's throat. Zellogi forced himself to stay, telling himself that it wasn't shinigami-like to be afraid of anything…after all, nothing could hurt or kill a shinigami unless the King decided to punish one, and the King seemed to neither notice nor care what was going on…but he couldn't quite stop himself from trembling just a bit. When where the holes going to come back on, so he could finish writing and get out of here? Finally, they did come back on, and what Zellogi saw shocked him. Two of the humans were dead, the odd-looking one and the oldest one, but that in itself wasn't so shocking. In one of the rooms, there was a large pile of sand, half-covering a death note. While the holes were off, somehow, the female shinigami had…had __**died.**__ Suddenly, Zellogi decided that he could finish killing humans some other time. He extended his wings and flew off as fast as he could._


	2. Snap Decision

"And that's about it," said Zellogi. "She was just…dead."

"Creepy…" said Sidoh, shuddering.

"Not really," said Ryuk. "I met that shinigami while I was in the human world. Her name was Rem. I told you about her when you went to the human world to get your notebook, remember, Sidoh?"

"Uh, no…"

"Hmm, I thought you might've, but I guess not… well, she was as soft and spongy as it gets. She actually developed feelings for her human, and she killed the two humans Zellogi saw so her human's lifespan would be extended. Apparently, if a shinigami kills a human to extend the lifespan of a human it likes, the shinigami dies."

Gukku and Deridovely burst into hysterical laughter. "Oh, man! A shinigami dying to save a human? No way!"

"And that's not all…she knew she would die, because she'd already seen some shinigami called Gelus die to save the same human…and she did it anyway."

Gukku and Deridovely laughed even harder. "Shut up! Is that seriously how to kill a shinigami? She seriously died on purpose, for a human?"

"I know, at first I thought, _"_A shinigami dying to save a human? That's like a human dying to save a cheeseburger_."_ But I gotta admit, that analogy's not perfect, because my human was definitely smarter than a cheeseburger, and Rem's human was way cuter than a cheeseburger. I can almost relate to why she wouldn't want her human to die…some humans have a lot of personality, and it's possible to get attached… I can't imagine dying for one, though."

"What's a cheeseburger?" asked Gukku.

"Aww, where you _sad _when your human died, Ryukie?" Deridovely snickered.

"Nah, he was finished anyway, so it didn't really make a difference if he was alive or dead. That's why I killed him and came back here. But really, Zellogi's story just adds to my point. The king's been acting _really _weird lately."

"Yeah, I know," said Zellogi. "For as long as I can remember, he's been telling us to take good care of our death notes, because they're too precious for him to just give away all the time…but now he's trading them for apples? What's up with that?"

"And that time I lost my notebook!" said Sidoh. "The old man used to get really sore at you if you lost your notebook, but at least he'd kind of give you some prompting, to help you track it down… he's always said that he looks out for us, that he doesn't want any of us to die unnecessarily… but when I went to tell him about my notebook, he didn't really seem to care. He just told me to go ask Armo…Alamo…uh, Justin the Jewel Skeleton, because he'd probably know more about it. Nothing against Justin; I mean, he knows lots of stuff, but him knowing more about death notes than the King? Come on. The old man taught us all how to use death notes in the first place."

"You wanna know the weirdest thing?" said Zellogi. "Since the old man's been giving out death notes in exchange for apples, there's been a ton more shinigami going down to the human world, and Calikarcha was one of them…"

"Huh? Calikarcha? I didn't know he wanted to go to the human world," said Ryuk.

"Well, I think he only went because one of his buddies…I think Vechello was his name…anyway, he'd already gone, and Calikarcha was bored, so he got himself a second note and gave it to some human. But while he was explaining why the human couldn't see its own lifespan with the shinigami eyes, the human asked what its lifespan was, and Calikarcha told it! He had no idea it was against the rules! I asked Justin, and he said that should have earned him a _level one_, whether he knew the rule or not!"

Sidoh gave an involuntary gasp of horror.

"When Calikarcha found out, he killed his human right away…not like that would help, though. He's been freaking out, waiting for the king to summon him and have him killed…but the old man hasn't done a thing. He hasn't said a word about it."

All five shinigami fell silent for a few minutes. Finally, Gukku spoke up.

"Trading apples for death notes is one thing, but ignoring a shinigami who told a human its lifespan? Something is seriously wrong there."

"Yeah," said Ryuk, thinking hard. Suddenly, a mischievous grin spread over his face.

"Hey, Zellogi," he said. "Remember how you said you saw things on the king's tower when the holes turned themselves off?"

"Yeah…"

"But he didn't do anything about it, even though it's against the rules?"

"No, like I said, he just hung there."

Ryuk grinned even wider. "Wanna go check it out, then?"

The other shinigami looked at him as though he had suddenly sprouted paisley umbrellas instead of wings.

"Is it just me, or do shinigami who visit the human world suddenly turn suicidal?" said Deridovely.

"Are you crazy, Ryuk?" Sidoh gasped. "The king would kill you!"

"He didn't kill the two shinigami who were on the tower earlier."

"I never said they were shinigami," said Zellogi. "I couldn't tell what they were. They were seriously high up."

"What else would be flying around in the shinigami realm?" Ryuk reasoned. "Come on, guys, I've been bored stupid ever since I got back. The old man didn't punish the guy on the tower. He didn't say anything to me about stealing Sidoh's notebook. And he hasn't done anything to Calikarcha, even though he should have killed him a while ago. Lately, the old man's track record hasn't been so great, don't you think? Why not do something exciting while we can get away with it? Haven't you ever wondered what he's trying to hide from us up there?"

"But I heard screaming coming from the tower," said Zellogi. "You can't tell me that sounds like nothing to worry about."

"You hear screaming all the time when you kill humans, Zellogi. It was probably just the wind, and your imagination was playing tricks on you. Or some human scream coming from one of the holes a ways off, that sounded different because it was the only one turned on."

Zellogi didn't look convinced.

Ryuk sighed. "Look, if a shinigami dies, it's either because their lifespan runs out, or they save a human they like, or they're killed by the king. Your lifespan is probably fine, I doubt you'll find any humans in the tower, and you said yourself that the old man did nothing. What's there to worry about?"

"Well, when you put it that way…" said Zellogi. Slowly, his look of apprehension turned into one of excitement. "What the hell. I'm bored, too, and it's probably going to take a while before I can give a human a death note. I'll go."

"Gukku? Deridovely?"

"Your hide, not mine, Ryuk," said Gukku. "You just tell me if you find anything interesting."

"Yeah, the tower's too far off anyway," Deridovely agreed.

"All right then. Come on, Sidoh," Ryuk said as he took a few steps in the direction of the king's tower and unfurled his wings.

"Uh…I don't…" said Sidoh.

"Come, on Sidoh. Don't be a chicken," Zellogi said, pushing him forward toward Ryuk.

"No, I don't think…really…hey, wait!" Sidoh protested as Ryuk and Zellogi both grabbed him and took off for the king's tower.


	3. Descent

"Guys, I really think this is a bad idea!" Sidoh complained as the three shinigami landed on the top of the king's tower.

"It's too late now, Sidoh. We're already on the tower, so you can either leave now and get caught by the king by yourself, or come with us and share the blame three ways," said Zellogi.

"I don't think getting caught is even a problem," said Ryuk. "The king didn't do anything when we landed here, just like I thought. Now let's go in, before he changes his mind."

Ryuk and Zellogi walked to the square hole in the top of the tower that was covered by a series of black, jagged arches, and started down the spiral staircase that they found.

"You coming, Sidoh?"

"Uh…I dunno…"

"All right, then. You can just wait here, on the very top of the tower, all by yourself…" Ryuk said as he disappeared from sight.

Sidoh looked around. The tower gradually tapered as it got higher, and while it was absolutely massive at the bottom, it was only big enough for about twenty shinigami to stand on at the top. Sidoh went to stand on the edge of the tower and have a look around. He was so high up, he could see parts of the shinigami realm that he'd never explored before, parts it took days to fly to…but when he looked straight down, everything was so tiny that Sidoh got dizzy and had to step back. Why were heights so much scarier when he was standing instead of flying? The wind made stepping anywhere on purpose, or even standing still, immensely difficult, as strong as it was up there. Sidoh dug his talons into the stone floor and furled his wings tighter around himself. He shivered, but not because of the wind…it was cold, but not so impossibly cold that a shinigami couldn't handle it. Being on top of this tower, alone, was like being stranded on the tiniest of desert islands in the middle of a violent hurricane; an icy, freezing, arctic hurricane. Stranded…alone…

"Wait for me!" he shouted as he hurried down the staircase after Ryuk and Zellogi.

When Sidoh got to the bottom of the staircase, he found himself in a completely bare room, with no sign of Ryuk or Zellogi anywhere. However, there were twelve doorways; three on each wall, each with a set of stairs leading downward, but it was easy to see that the rest of the tower wasn't nearly as simply as this room. The stairs led left and right, some steep and some nearly level, with some sets of stairs obviously running underneath other ones. There was no sound coming from any of the doorways; no light footfalls or chatter to give a clue as to where Ryuk and Zellogi might have went; just the sound of the wind blowing across the top of the tower, making a mournful hooting sound as it crossed the hole. Sidoh picked a moderately sloped set of stairs and started down them, hoping for the best.

The stairs came out into a room filled with dust-covered books, with several more sets of stairs leading down from it; Sidoh continued to pick stairs at random, wandering from room to room. Several rooms were filled with books, scrolls, and other bits of paper; some were filled with odd-looking bits of metal and wire and…machines, maybe? Some of them looked kind of like half-completed human world viewing holes... One room was a dead end; that one had a sheet of cloth hanging from the walls spread out like a hammock, it also had a large mirror, and a desk of sorts carved from the same stone as the tower, covered with what might have been all sorts of trinkets before they were smashed or aged beyond recognition. The room was covered in broken fragments of the various items, and a thick coating of dust and sand. It felt as though something had lived in this room once, but whatever that something was, it was long gone now.

Sidoh turned back and continued to stumble from room to room, and continued to find more and more corridors and stairs, leading up and down, sideways, diagonally, some without steps that you had to fly down- now that he thought about it, how was he going to find his way out? He was deep inside the tower by now, and his strategy of just remembering which way he'd gone didn't seem so foolproof, in retrospect. He walked more quickly, hoping to find some sign of Ryuk or Zellogi. What if they left without him, and he was stuck inside trying to find a way out on his own? Sidoh broke into a jog, trying not to panic. What if it took him years to find his way out of the labyrinthine tower? What if it took him so long to escape, his lifespan ran out before he could find an exit?! Sidoh started sprinting, shouting for Ryuk and Zellogi, barely seeing staircases or passages before he ran mindlessly down them, racing up and down and through rooms and over stairs and along corridors and through more doors and over a balcony…

"AAAAAAAAAAAH!" Sidoh screamed as he tripped headlong over the balcony and plummeted a hundred feet onto a stone floor with a "thud" that echoed off the walls_._

Sidoh sat up and gave his head a shake to try and clear it. He'd landed on…some sort of platform, a stage, maybe, inside a room so huge it was really more of a chamber. Hundreds of stone benches rose up around the stage in a manner befitting an opera house, with more doorways leading out from the aisles. For the first time since he'd entered the tower, Sidoh heard movement that wasn't his own, coming from one of the doorways above the aisles, and getting steadily louder…it was coming his way, and fast. Sidoh gave panicky looks to his surroundings, searching for a place to hide, but it was too late. Two figures burst through the doorway and into the chamber.

"EEEEEK!" Sidoh yelped.

"Geez, Sidoh. Do you think you're making enough noise? They can probably just barely hear you on the other side of the tower," said Ryuk.

"Whoa, we haven't seen anything like this yet, eh, Ryuk?" said Zellogi, looking around the chamber in wonder. "What would you call it?"

"Hmm… it kinda reminds me of an auditorium. Sure is echoey enough for one. HELLO!" Ryuk shouted, enjoying the reverberations that bounced off the perfectly smooth, curved walls.

"Hey, Ryuk, wanna show Sidoh what we found?"

"Sure. Come on, Sidoh."

All too gladly, Sidoh followed them back through the hallway they'd come from.

"Hey! A way out!" Sidoh exclaimed gleefully, seeing a massive window in the middle of the passage, big enough for five shinigami to jump out of at once.

"Yep. It's even on the opposite side of the tower from the king. We can leave that way without the old geezer noticing a thing," said Zellogi.

"Here it is. Check it out, Sidoh," said Ryuk.

The room they'd come to wasn't huge, or lavishly decorated, it just had a bunch of…

"Death Notes," said Ryuk. "I'll bet this is where the old man keeps all the ones he has left."

There was space for thousands death notes in the room, but only twelve stacks remained, none of them half as tall as the average shinigami. The stacks were far outnumbered by rectangular patches in the dust where stacks used to be.

"No wonder he doesn't want to give them away. Looks like he's running out fast," said Zellogi.

"You mean, he _didn't_ want to give them away," Ryuk corrected. "You know, I might have considered taking a few, if it weren't so easy to get them lately. What's with the rush to get rid of them all? I really don't get it."

"What's down there?" asked Sidoh.

"Huh? Where?"

"There," Sidoh said, pointing to a small hole in the floor in a far corner of the room.

"Oh! Where'd that come from?" said Zellogi.

"Good eye, Sidoh," Ryuk said. "I didn't even notice it before. Let's check out this one last bit before we go."

"You've said that a million times already, Ryuk! Are we going to check out every inch of this tower before you've had enough? We've gotta go back eventually, you know."

"I mean it this time. This is really gonna be our last one. Let's go!"

With a flap of his wings, Ryuk was down the hole, with Zellogi and Sidoh close behind. The passage was barely wide enough for them to fully extend their wings in. It curved downward at an angle, and tossed them out of a hole in the wall of yet another room.

If the chamber with the stage could have been described as an auditorium, Ryuk might have described this one as a cathedral. Narrow passages near the top of the vaulted ceiling let in beams of dim, grey light. The walls were covered with at least fifty framed pictures, ten by fifteen feet, each one portraying a different shinigami.

"Anyone you know?" Ryuk asked Zellogi.

"Nope. You?"

"No. I wonder who bothered to take so many photos?"

"These aren't photos. They're all painted," said Sidoh.

Ryuk left the group and went to inspect the nearest portrait. "Whoa…he's right. What's with the super eyesight all of a sudden, Sidoh? …and how the hell did the king get fifty huge paintings? Either shinigami had a lot more ambition once upon a time, or some artistic human owned a whole lotta death notes."

"See anything else with your freaky superpower, Sidoh?" said Zellogi jokingly.

Sidoh gave a casual look around, and tilted his head curiously at something at the very end of the long room.

"What's that?" he asked.

The three shinigami started toward the curious object, but halfway across the room, they stopped cold when it spoke to them.

"N-no. Go…back," it said in a weak, hoarse, pained whisper.

Sidoh made an odd squeaking noise that sounded something like "gleep!" and started to back up, but Ryuk proceeded forward, cautiously.

"Stop…leave…now! Not…safe…here…"

Ryuk moved closer, and the other two followed behind him, from a distance. When they got close enough to see what it was, Ryuk's mouth dropped in shock, Zellogi let out a gasping yelp, and Sidoh looked away as he made a strange retching sound.

The thing was bound to the wall and floor by several thick, heavy chains, and it was coated in dry, dusty sand. Wet, heavy sand also oozed from the many gashes that covered what could only be a shinigami.

"R-Rem?" Ryuk stammered.


	4. Escape

"Rem? But…I thought you were dead! You died when you killed Watari and Ryuzaki!"

Rem was sitting in a crumpled heap on the floor, bound by chains around her wrists and ankles, covered in wounds that dripped thick, viscous sand.

"I…recognize your voice…and you know…about…them…are you…Ryuk?"

Slowly, Rem raised her head, and Sidoh and Zellogi screamed with horror they'd never felt before as shinigami. Death was one thing, but they'd never even considered the idea that something like this could happen to a shinigami.

Rem had never had an eye on the side of her head that was covered in bandages. The other eye had been yellow, with a feline slit for a pupil. Now, Rem had only an empty socket, bordered by a thick crust of caked-on sand.

"Who are you? Can't…see..."

Ryuk was frozen in shock for a few seconds. He was tempted to do just what the two shinigami behind him wanted to do; run away, as fast and far as he could. But he had to know…

"What's going on? What _happened_ to you?"

"I can't believe…y-you got in," Rem croaked, smiling slightly. Suddenly, her expression turned to one of acute horror.

"Get out of h-here. He's… coming."

"Who? Who's coming, Rem?"

"Can't explain…no time…run!"

"Why? Just tell me what's going on."

"No. He's g-going to come back any s-second now…to…kill…me. He'll kill you…he'll kill you, too…"

"_Who,_ Rem? What are you talking about?"

"Leave…NOW!" Rem shrieked. She couldn't work up much volume in the hoarse whisper her voice had become, but the intensity in her words was loud and clear. "HE'S…COMING! He'll…kill…you…ALL! He's c-coming NOW! SAVE YOURSELVES!"

Sidoh bolted toward the other side of the room, heading straight for the hole in the wall, and Zellogi was right behind him.

"COME ON, RYUK! RUN!" he shouted.

But Ryuk didn't even hear him. He'd seen more unexplained things today than he'd seen before in his whole life, and Rem knew something, even if that something was only what had happened to her. He'd risked who knows what, coming into this tower, and he was not leaving without at least one answer. An answer that was right in front of him…if he could only get Rem to _talk_…

"Rem, I am not leaving until you tell me _What's. Going. On._"

"No…it's not safe here. You must leave, now!"

"I told you, I'm not leaving."

Rem shuddered in frustration.

"Then you'll …die… with me!"

Ryuk growled sullenly, equally frustrated. Impatiently, he shifted his weight slightly to the right while taking a small step-and heard something clink underneath his foot.

He stepped back and took a look at the object on the floor. It was a key.

The connection between the key and the chains sprang into Ryuk's brain with no effort at all. He grinned widely at his incredible luck, and the incredible stupidity of whoever had left the key on the _floor_.

He grabbed the key and sprang at the chains, unlocking each one quickly with a satisfying "snap".

"What…what are you doing?" Rem whispered.

"Ryuk, quit fooling around! We have to get out of here!" Zellogi yelled. He'd paused at the entrance to the passage out, and was flapping anxiously as he waited for Ryuk, wings already extended. Sidoh was long gone…when he wanted to move fast, he could book it like nobody's business.

Ryuk unlocked the last chain as he said, "You obviously won't tell me anything while you're here, so I guess I'm just going to have to take you with me. Can you fly? Oh…guess not. Ouch," he said as he glanced at Rem's back, which was covered by a large plate of metal attached to her with several screws.

"Another thing to ask her about later," he thought as he half-carried, half-dragged Rem across the long, cathedral-like room.

"Hey, Zellogi, give me a hand flying her back up, will ya?" he asked as he unfurled his wings.

The thought of touching the nightmarish spectre of a shinigami was too much for Zellogi. He shuddered in disgust and shook his head violently.

"Fine, I'll do it myself," Ryuk grumbled as he slung Rem over his back and took off up the hole.

They flew back through the tunnel, through the room with the death notes, down the hall and out the large window, finally escaping from the tower. In the distance, Ryuk could see the speck that was probably Sidoh, headed back to where they'd been hanging out before. Ryuk set a course in the same direction, flying behind Zellogi, a bit slower than usual because of the little extra bit of weight.

"Hey, Rem," he said, suddenly smug, "Why didn't you think of dematerializing your way out of those chains? Would've been easier than waiting to be rescued."

Rem hissed angrily. "You…think…I…didn't…try….that?!"

"It didn't work?" said Ryuk, slightly taken aback. "Oh."

Another thing to add to his growing list of things that Rem had better explain, seeing as he'd bothered to bust her out.

Gukku and Deridovely were waiting right where he'd left them.

"Whaddya know, you're back, and you're not dead!" said Deridovely.

"Find anything good, Ryuk?" asked Gukku.

Ryuk slid Rem off his back and onto the ground. Gukku and Deridovely stared, open-mouthed and speechless.

Rem moved her sightless head around, as though she was trying vainly to see her surroundings. Experimentally, she flexed her limbs, and rubbed at her wrist in wonder.

"I'm…free?" she breathed, a smile stealing over her face. "Is this really happening?" She sighed happily. "Thank you," she said to the space next to Ryuk's head. But once again, the bliss on her face was washed away by terror.

"Oh, no!" she cried. "What have I done?"

"What have you done? Huh?" said Ryuk, confused.

Rem groaned miserably. "I'm so sorry…I never should have let you free me…"

"Why?"

"Can't you guess? He wanted to kill me, without anyone knowing. It'll be obvious that someone freed me, and once he finds me, he'll kill whoever did it. I'm so sorry…"

"EEEEK! What do we do!?" shrieked Sidoh.

"It's too late to put me back," said Rem. "We left moments before he was going to come down and finish me. I have no doubt he already knows I'm gone."

Zellogi and Sidoh glared at Ryuk murderously. "This is all your stupid fault, Ryuk! Thanks to you, and your stupid idea, we're all going to die!" Zellogi growled.

"You have to hide me," said Rem. "Your only hope is to hide me, and when he comes looking, you must deny that you even knew of my existence."

"Fine by me!" said Gukku. "Here, stuff her down this hole!"

He pushed aside a sizeable rock to reveal the moderately large pit where he'd stashed the few winnings he'd earned in centuries of gambling. Sidoh and Zellogi grabbed Rem and unceremoniously dumped her in. Gukku started to push the rock back into place, but Ryuk stopped him just before he could finish.

"Hold on a second, Gukku," he said. "All right, Rem. I went to all the trouble of getting you out of that tower, and look how much danger it's put me in. I think the least you could do to make it up to me would be to tell me what happened."

Rem tilted her head skyward in his direction, contemplating. After a long pause, she started to speak.

"I thought I was going to die that day, when I wrote down Watari and Ryuzaki's names. How I wish that I had. But instead…"

All five shinigami sat transfixed as she told them everything.


	5. Flashback

So, that was it, then. Misa was going to be caught and executed, unless Rem walked into Light Yagami's trap and killed Ryuzaki.

"Who will die? Misa or me…?" she thought. But she already knew the answer. In her heart, she had always known the answer. Misa's happiness came first. All Rem could ever ask for was a long and happy life for the little human she'd come to love in every way possible…as a dear friend, as a sister…as a daughter.

"Watari, contact the leader of a country who would agree to this," said Ryuzaki, already steering the investigation back in Misa's direction by making plans to test the notebook.

"Watari...he was with Ryuzaki and Light Yagami on the way back here," thought Rem. "And he's passed along important information over the computer since then. He's Ryuzaki's right-hand man…if I want to write down the name of people whose deaths would lengthen Misa's remaining lifespan, I have until the first person dies. That's 40 seconds to write as many names as I can…"

Quietly, Rem drifted through the wall into the adjacent room. Hands trembling, she took out her death note and pen, and flipped to a fresh sheet. She touched the pen to paper, fighting back a flood of horrible emotions she'd never felt before and wasn't prepared to face. This was the end…the end of her life…she'd never see Misa again; she'd never see anything again; all her senses, memories, and sense of self erased forever in the dust of death. Doom and oblivion were raising a deafening cacophony inside her head, and she almost put the pen away, but she firmly reminded herself of why she was doing this. It was the only way. She had to do it…this was no time to let her emotions get the better of her. She was stronger than that…she would bravely face death, for her Misa. Rem steeled herself, took a moment to remember everything she'd seen, heard and felt for one last time, and began writing her own death sentence. Her hands were trembling so violently, the symbols she wrote were barely legible. Once Quillsh Wammy's name was down and her fate was already sealed, writing L Lawliet's was just a bit easier. Rem closed her notebook and bowed her head, waiting for the inevitable. She could almost feel her disintegration beginning.

"This is Misa's happiness, to be with Light Yagami. But Light Yagami…to kill even a shinigami…he's surpassed the shinigami…"

An amused "tsk" sound came from Rem's right.

"Now, now, young one, don't you remember me telling you not to get too attached to humans? It's dangerous, you know," said the voice. It was warm, soothing, fatherly-and very familiar.

Startled, Rem looked up. She'd heard the voice before, but she'd never seen the shinigami who was now perched on top of one of the processors for the building's massive network of computers.

He wasn't as big as Midora, but compared to most shinigami, he was still fearsomely large. His skin was blue, and he was heavily muscled. A long, black mane ran from the top of his head and down his back, and his lower body was covered in fine black feathers. He had large, cloven hooves for feet, and he wore a belt with a skull-themed buckle. His nose was flat, like many other shinigami's, and he had a wide mouth filled with sharp teeth. Bull-like horns sprouted from his temples, and his eyes were a vivid red, with black pupils. He was carrying a scythe, larger and more ornate than any Rem had seen before, and he was holding his death note.

"I know it's dangerous. But it's too late; I've made my decision," Rem said to the stranger.

"Don't be so certain," said the stranger, smiling warmly as he flipped open his death note and showed Rem what he'd written: Quillsh Wammy, and L Lawliet.

Rem looked back at him quizzically.

The stranger chuckled. "It was very easy to kill them before you did, dear. You write very slowly when you're so terrified. It's been forty seconds now, and you're still alive-no need to thank me. Taking care of my little ones has always been my number-one priority."

It took a moment for what he was saying to sink in, but when it did, the relief that flooded through Rem brought her to her knees.

"Who are you?" she asked her saviour, awestruck.

The stranger let out another chortle of grandfatherly laughter. "You know who I am, young one. Think. You've known me since you were born. Of course, you only know my voice; I don't usually appear in front of anyone in person. You're a smart little creature…that's why I gave you a rank of four. I'm sure you can guess who I am."

"Gave me a rank of four…," Rem repeated to herself. Suddenly, it dawned on her, where she'd heard this voice before…she'd heard it explain the characters in human names, how to add and subtract human life spans from her own, what the rules of the realm were, all while huddled in a massive crowd of every other shinigami in the realm…

"Great King!...thank you," Rem stammered as she hastily bowed her head. "But…I thought you were the large golden shinigami with two faces who hangs from the tower!"

"No, no," said the King, smiling kindly. "That's not a shinigami. It's more of a very large puppet, really. I built it so I could talk to those who came to me, while I was almost anywhere within the tower. Think of it as more of my representative, if you must."

"Great King, you are more merciful and kind than I've ever imagined. I can't even begin to express…"

He shushed her, gently. "Then don't. Right now, you must listen to me. At the moment, your existence is a bit of a bother to the human named Light Yagami…quite a clever little worm, isn't he? He's quite happy right now in his belief that you're dead, and I see no reason to deprive him of his happiness by letting him know the truth. I can't let him keep trying to force you to kill yourself, dear, so I'll make you a deal. You can watch over your human from our realm- it will be a great advantage for her, if you can protect her without Light Yagami knowing. My only request is that from now on, talk to me first, before you consider something drastic. Now, then, we need to make sure he's fully convinced that you're dead. "

"How do we do that?" asked Rem.

"Fairly easily," said the King as he hopped down from the processor. Rem hadn't noticed it before, but he'd had a large, full bag slung over his shoulder, the contents of which he emptied out onto the floor.

"Ah. Sand," said Rem.

"Yes. I told you it would be easy-just one more thing. I'm sorry, young one, but seeing as how death notes don't disintegrate along with their owners, you're going to have to leave yours behind."

Rem nodded. "I understand," she said as she stuck her death note into the pile of sand.

"Excellent. Follow me!" the King said as he flew through the nearest wall.

Rem obeyed without question. After what he'd done for her, the King deserved every bit of trust that his benign voice inspired.

They flew out of the building, over Tokyo, and climbed steeply up into the sky, finally reaching the portal to the shinigami realm. They passed through it, but the King kept flying at a steep upward angle, quickly gaining altitude. Rem grew concerned as they began to approach the King's tower- although it was still a ways off, they were nearly level with the top of it, and still climbing.

"Great King?" she asked. "I don't believe I'll be able to continue flying this high without breaking the rule against being above the fifth level…"

"Don't worry yourself. You have my permission," said the King. "In fact, I'm going so far as to let you inside the tower. You see, there's an urgent matter I must discuss with you privately."

Rem was intrigued. What could possibly be so important?

They landed on top of the tower, and the King led her down the spiral staircase, then down another set of steep stairs that went straight down. This room was very small and very bare, save for the multitude of various chains, shackles, and who knows what other devices hanging from the walls and ceiling.

Rem was about to speak, but the King beat her to it.

"Rem. How many shinigami do you know who have died, sacrificing themselves to prolong the lifespan of a favoured human?"

Was this what the King had been so anxious to discuss? "At least ten, but that was a long time ago, when shinigami still visited the human world regularly; although, there were a few more after that. Why, just months ago, Gelus…"

"And do you know why I saved you, and not them?"

Rem was taken aback at his question. "Well, there were so many at first, I doubt you could have saved them all…but Gelus…I don't know. Why?"

The King smiled sweetly at her. "The reason I didn't let you die, dear…is because I wanted to kill you myself."

Rem barely had time to register her shock before the King swung the blunt end of his scythe at her. She dematerialized, instinctively and immediately.

But it didn't work. Rem cried out in surprise as the scythe struck her face and knocked her to the floor.

Dazed, she tried in vain to stand up. Hot, wet sand was filling her mouth…what? How could that be? She spat out a few broken teeth along with the sand, and felt bewilderedly at her mouth as more hot, wet sand streamed out of it. What was this horrible sensation...? With a jolt, Rem realized that for the first time, she was in physical pain. But it didn't last long. With a blow to the back of her head-one that should've passed through her, but didn't- she was out.


	6. Revelation

Hours later, Rem blearily opened her eyes. There was a strong sensation of cold stone against her face; slowly, Rem realized that she was sprawled on the floor. She heaved herself to her feet-the heaviness in her limbs was only partially imagined. She was bound to the wall behind her by thick, heavy chains. Regaining some of her senses, Rem made herself intangible and tried to walk out of the chains. Once again, it didn't work.

Booming laughter came from directly in front of her. The King was standing there, grinning widely. "Don't bother trying. You won't be able to get out of those. I designed them myself, out of the finest tzargantium."

"Why?" said Rem. "Please…why?!"

The King sighed. Incredibly, horrifically, his voice still had a gentle timbre that would have inspired unending trust in any other shinigami but Rem, now that she knew better. "It's so frustrating when I'm constantly being reminded that you young ones don't know nearly as much as I do. Tzargantium is found only in the shinigami realm, and it is one of the few things a shinigami can't phase through-which makes it very useful. A King couldn't execute a law-breaking shinigami without tzargantium weapons. That's precisely why my Royal Scythe"- he paused to smugly gesture toward the scythe he'd constantly been carrying- "is made of tzargantium. Otherwise, a shinigami could avoid its execution by simply dematerializing and allowing the weapon to pass through it. As you can see, it's also quite effective at keeping a shinigami confined."

"No, that's not what I meant! Why are you even doing this in the first place? What have I done to deserve it?"

"What have you done?" asked the King. The look he gave her pretended at wistfulness, but truly, it was pure glee. "Why, you've done nothing. Nothing at all. All your life, you've been an exemplary follower of every rule I've set down. It's more the fact that you _exist_, really…"

"I…I don't understand…" Rem whimpered.

"Of course you don't. I've been very careful to make sure no one knows anything about the time before I was king. The sole reason you're here, and the sole reason I'm going to kill such a pretty little thing as you…don't look so shocked, for a female shinigami, you're quite the beauty…is because you are the daughter of Shoboro, and I won't rest until I've wiped out the last filthy carrier of his worthless genes."

"Daughter of What? What does that mean? Hey, wait! Where are you going?" Rem cried as the King turned and walked down the long room-she hadn't noticed it before, but now she was in a cathedral-like room with several pictures of shinigami on the walls.

"Later, young one. Right now, I've got to go turn the viewing holes back on. I knew it would create less hassle for me no one saw me down in the human world, and if all the shinigami believed you were dead as well; but if I leave them off much longer, someone's going to get suspicious."

The King took off up the hole in the wall, leaving Rem alone. Futilely, she tried again to walk through the chains; but as she'd suspected, the King was right-she wasn't going to be able to get out of them. She tried desperately to think of a way to escape, but the nagging pains in her jaw and at the back of her head kept derailing her train of thought. And there was a new pain…in her back? Rem twisted her head to look over her shoulder, and moaned with horror. A large metal plate was completely covering her back, and it was held in place with several screws driven directly into her skin.

The King came whooshing out the hole in the wall and flew directly to the other end of the room to stand before Rem.

"What have you done to me?" asked Rem, still staring at her back.

"Just a little extra precaution. The plate on your back will prevent you from extending your wings, so even if you do manage to escape from your chains through some miracle, you won't get far. I've been hunting for you for so long…letting you escape is simply not an option. Speaking of which…do you know how long you've managed to elude me, Rem?"

"No…"

"I've been looking for you ever since you were born…four hundred and seventy years, give or take a few. Do you know what that means?"

"…All I can say for sure is that you're lousy at searching, if it took you so long," said Rem.

The King laughed uproariously. "You little rascal! But seriously, Rem, you've caused me so much grief with your constant elusiveness. So many years I've waited for you to come before me for advice, so many years I've been disappointed… I'd love to kill you right this instant, but that wouldn't be fair. I should make you suffer as you've made me suffer…but I simply can't bear to make myself to wait another four hundred and seventy years, so I'm letting you off a bit easier. I'll only make you suffer for a measly four hundred and seventy weeks, which will start…today."

The King took an easy stride forward and gave a slash with his scythe.

"Ouch!" Rem cried, grasping the fresh wound on her arm that was dripping sand.

"You get one of those every week. See? I'm not that merciless. This way, you'll have some measure of how much time has passed…and how much you have left. Well, my duty as King forces me to take my leave. I'll see you next week, Rem!"

And with that, the King was gone. Rem sat in the muffled silence, clutching her wound closed.

The King was true to his word. Rem was left alone in the dark, silent chamber most of the time, and once a week the King came down to deal her a fresh blow with his scythe. She never said "ouch" again, however. While waiting in the grey near-darkness that first week, she'd vowed to never let the King have the satisfaction of seeing her in pain again, and she bore the fresh cuts with barely a grunt. For the first few weeks, the injuries were bearable…once she got used to the pain, it was easy to ignore, and the wounds did heal over time. But as time wore on and her injuries piled up, Rem began to tire. All the sand she'd lost made small piles at her feet, and the slashes began to take longer and longer to heal. After ten months, Rem became so drained that she couldn't stand anymore. When the King came to deal the next blow, Rem couldn't even raise her head to look him defiantly in the eye, as she usually made a point of doing.

After the King made a fresh gash, he clucked his tongue sadly at her. "This simply won't do," he said. "As I suspected, a shinigami isn't capable of taking the brunt of so many injuries without wearing down somewhat. At this rate, you'll die before your four hundred and seventy weeks are up. Here. Eat this."

He tossed her one of the shrivelled appendages of a gaunt, wasted tree from the shinigami realm. Rem looked at it balefully.

"Mmm. Looks tasty. Let me guess-this is going to cause my innards to burn for a few months, saving you the trouble of coming down every week."

"What a sassy little beast you've become! All of Justin's reports say that you're so serious, and always so respectful…I didn't know you had such a sarcastic streak, Rem."

"Neither did I. I suppose there's just something about being confined and tormented that brings it out of me. If you'd prefer polite and composed, letting me loose would probably work."

"I don't think so. Just crack open the shenzu nut and eat it."

"Why should I? Seeing as how I don't trust you anymore, you'll have a hard time convincing me."

"It's a powerhouse food for shinigami who are injured or growing. No addictive fructose; and it builds tissue so fast, you'll be good as new by next week-just in time for our next meeting."

Rem stared at the shrivelled, pod-like offshoot. She'd seen things like it before, but it didn't look edible, even compared with the misshapen fruit that sometimes bothered to sprout from the crippled, tortured trees of the shinigami realm. Rem supposed she could handle a little more pain, if the king was lying-she was used to it by now-and the prospect of some relief from her injuries was very tempting. Suspiciously, she cracked it open and gingerly bit into a round, brownish-red object inside. It was smooth and creamy, with the texture of peanut butter, and it had a hearty, pleasantly bitter taste.

"What do you mean by "growing" shinigami? You haven't answered my question about what a Shoboro is, either, or why I'm here."

"I'm afraid you'll have to get used to that. It's a long story that I don't feel like telling right now."

"Then tell me in bits. I don't mind."

"…Fine. If you insist…," said the King, his usual disarming smile back on his face, which only disappeared whenever this "Shoboro" was mentioned. "Remember me telling everyone that shinigami stopped eating because the shinigami realm became so barren, and the shinigami stomach evolved until it no longer required sustenance?"

"Yes, that was fairly recent, about a hundred years ago," said Rem.

"Well, it's complete hogwash. A shinigami doesn't just spring into existence, like I've led you all to believe. They grow and develop, and they need food and rest in order to add to their bodies-much like how your body is adding what was lost because you've eaten that shenzu nut," said the King. "But once a shinigami matures, it doesn't need food or sleep anymore, because it's finished adding to itself. It has nothing to do with environmental conditions."

"I see. Why so much deceit?"

"It's all part of my agenda. My aim is to rule this realm with absolute power, for the rest of time, and that would be difficult if anyone even remotely suspected what went on before I was King."

"What went on, then?"

"That would take days to explain."

"That's fine. I don't exactly have something else I should be doing. Maybe my time spent down here would be more agonizing if I knew the horrible truth about why you're doing this. For example, just what is this dreaded _Shoboro_?"

The King stiffened at the word. "I already told you. Shoboro is your father."

"But what does that _mean_?"

"What are you, stupid? He. Is. Your. Father. How can I be any clearer?"

"It would help if you explained what "father" means to a shinigami!"

"The same thing "father" means to everything else- the male who created you in conjunction with your mother."

For a moment, Rem wondered if the King was crazy, or if she'd heard him correctly. "Hold on. That can't be. Shinigami can't reproduce, or even mate in the first place," she said, perplexed.

"Rule XXXVI? Ah, yes. A masterstroke on my part. _There are male and female gods of death, but it is neither permitted, nor possible for them to have sexual relations with humans. The gods of death also cannot have sex with each other_. Brilliant," said the King, gleefully quoting himself. "The way I've worded it, to the average moron of a shinigami, it sounds as though intimacy between two shinigami is a physical impossibility-but notice how I don't actually say that. I simply say that they _can't_. It not because they're not physically or emotionally capable; it's because I won't allow it. If shinigami start choosing mates, then their loyalty lies with their mate, not me. If they start producing offspring, then their loyalty to their King is even more weakened in favour of their children. I saw proof of that back in my early days as king, back when I was contemplating letting the other mature shinigami live. Better to keep the loyalty of my subjects utterly undivided by making sure I'm the only family they'll ever have or believe they're capable of having."

The room fell silent for a moment as Rem digested what she'd just heard. After years of hearing that shinigami came into existence through the same mystical force that caused death notes to work, the mundane idea that a shinigami could be born from two other shinigami just didn't sound plausible to her. "Why should I believe that? For all I know, you're just lying again in order to play games with my mind."

"If you want proof, Rem, look at your fellow shinigami. Can you tell which ones are male or female, even though there are no physical or behavioural differences between the two?"

"Yes, of course," she said.

"And you can tell that all by yourself, with no interference from me or anything I've said that might have been a lie, correct?"

"Yes…"

"So how can you tell? What's the difference between a male and female shinigami, or the two genders of any species, for that matter?"

Rem thought carefully. "Well, in most species, males tend to be larger…"

"No, no, think again. In all species, Rem. What do all males have in common, no matter what creature they are? In other words, what does the term "male" even mean?"

Rem wracked her brains, trying determinedly to think of the answer. "I don't know," she gave up at last. "What is it?"

"The only thing that every male has in common, despite the species, the very meaning of the world "male"…is nothing more and nothing less than the role they play in reproduction. The same thing goes for females. There's no difference in size or appearance between a male and a female shinigami, no difference in personality or behaviour…the only thing you instinctively perceive when you see another shinigami and decide on its gender is its role in reproduction. I don't force you to do that. It's something you do on your own."

Rem thought hard about what the King had said, trying to see a flaw in his logic…and it unsettled her that she couldn't. He was right…there was no perceivable difference between males and females, but they did have genders, no doubt about it…so did it have to be true…? In any case, on thing still nagged at her…

"So, this Shoboro…my…father…," said Rem, "why do you hate him so?"

The King abruptly lost his habitual grin, and growled angrily. "For as long as I knew him, his main goal was to ruin my life," said the King. "And I responded by trying to ruin his. I finally thought I'd found a way out, when I petitioned for kingship of this realm- a way of upstaging him permanently. I'd always dreamt of becoming King, of wielding that kind of power…but then Shoboro applied to become King, just to spite me. He'd never shown any inclination towards Kinghood before then, of course. I should have been appointed King…I was far more educated, I had far more ambition, and I could have done great things for this realm. But of course, Shoboro was crowned, merely on the basis of his bloodline. That's how I know you're his daughter…you have the female variety of royal markings, right there on your mouth. Living below Shoboro was simply unacceptable, and I vowed to become King, no matter what the cost. Shoboro took everything from me, during my campaign...when it came to dealing with each other; our philosophy was always "an eye for an eye." When his actions resulted in the deaths of my mate and children, my only choice was to kill him, his mate, and their children. The only thing incomplete about my victory, until now, was the fact that I couldn't find you. You see, I can't leave the tower, because everyone needs to think that I'm the large golden shinigami hanging out there, invincible and indestructible. The only way I'd be able to find you would be to wait until you came to me for advice, so I could get a good look at you and get you into the tower. Imagine my surprise when I'm in the viewing hole control room, looking at what's displayed on all the viewing holes outside, and who do I see but the female I've been searching for all these centuries! I was very angry when you made me risk my cover for a moment and leave the tower, in order to stop you from dying for a human before I could kill you personally. But no matter-I have you now. There. Are you satisfied? Do you understand why I'm keeping you here? Good. Get some sleep and finish that nut, so you'll be in good enough health to take the rest of what's coming before your death."

With nothing else to do, Rem did get some sleep, and felt the pain seep out of her body and watched her wounds heal over the next few days with relief. It was as if they'd never existed. The nuts worked just as the King had said-if he'd done anything decent since they'd entered this tower, he'd been honest to her, at least- but that honesty carried over into continuing her punishment right on schedule. Over and over, he repeated the cycle of wearing Rem down until she was inches from death and letting her recover, only to start the torture over again. Things went on like that for five years, without Rem and the King having a single other meaningful conversation.

---

"Horrible…" said Gukku. Sidoh had stopped listening ten minutes ago and was sitting on a rock a ways off, humming to himself with his fingers in his ears.

"So, then we came along…" said Ryuk.

"No," said Rem. "I heard the worst of it after that…"


	7. Genocide

Nearly eight years after her first day of confinement, the King came down to administer her weekly punishment, but instead of chuckling gleefully, he sighed with frustration.

"What's the matter?" asked Rem. "Is this starting to lose its novelty?"

"No, no, it's as fun as ever," said the King. "The thing is, when I caught you, I thought I had accomplished my final goal in life; that is, finding Shoboro's daughter and disposing of her; and I expected to finally be content…but I wasn't. I couldn't think of what I could possibly be missing, what I still didn't have that made my life feel incomplete…and I just realized it today. I had another purpose before; but my desire to see you dead shone so brightly that I could no longer see my other goal-one that will take much time and effort to realize. You see, when I first became King, I wanted two things. The first thing was the elimination of Shoboro and everything he cared about. The second was to have a realm full of magnificence, artistry, and ingenuity…but look at all the pathetic shinigami that inhabit the realm now. They're lazy, they're stupid…they're an embarrassment. They're not motivated, and quite a few of them are the spawn of those who supported Shoboro right to the end. I'll definitely have to cull three-quarters of the realm, starting with the lowest-ranked shinigami, and moving up from there; and it will continue until it is noticed that the worthless ones are being killed off, and shinigami will start striving to create the most wondrous monuments to my greatness, the most astounding things…"

Rem scoffed. "Like what? Building you another tower?"

"That's a start. I would like to get out of this old hand-me-down of Shoboro's. A few symphonies will also be in order, as well as some more paintings like the ones you see in this room."

When Rem realized that the King was being serious, she was appalled. "What?! You can't just scare someone into knowing how to build towers! It doesn't work that way!"

"They'll learn. Every race, every culture starts off with nothing, and throughout generations, they develop skills that they didn't have before, and the most exemplary specimens- the ones deserving of life- develop them the fastest."

"And what if developing these skills takes thousands of years, like it does with your example of "throughout generations"?"

"Then that would be quite a shame. There'd be no shinigami left, other than me. But that's all right. My realm must only be populated by the best of shinigami, and if I'm the only one good enough to live in it, then so be it. If it comes down to it, I'll even cull my own son."

"Your son? But I thought you said…"

"He hatched after Shoboro was already dead…after I'd already eliminated everyone who was old enough to make sense of or retain memories of what had happened. But that begs the question-is simply culling by rank fair? No. That would mean that my son will die before some who are higher ranked than him, and far less worthy of life…the children of the slime who supported Shoboro right to their pathetic ends."

"Oh? Such as?"

"Among the first to be culled will be Armonia Justin."

Rem raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"Oh, yes. He may be the only shinigami with a rank of two, and he's been very useful this past half-millennium, but his foolish father thought I was a danger to the rest of the shinigami as King. He was right, of course…Xithl Beyondormason was always very perceptive…and he actually tried to kill me, for the good of the rest of his fellow shinigami! Me, the King! Ha! It was uncharacteristically foolish of him. Anyhow, you'll see….or rather, you won't see since you'll be dead…this realm will undergo great change. Fear is an excellent motivator. "

"That's not a plan!" said Rem. "The shinigami in this realm just plain don't know how to do things like carve towers, and that won't change no matter how scared they are! You're just looking for an excuse to kill everyone! You're insane!"

"Insane, am I?" said the King. "I'm the King of this realm, and I decide who's sane or not, thank you very much. This is my kingdom, and I decide who gets to live in it."

"But you're not even giving anyone a fair chance! At least teach them how to do what you want, before you kill them!"

"If you're going to blame anyone for their lack of knowledge, blame yourself. If you'd shown up for individual advice while I was teaching everyone how to use death notes, I could have killed you right then and there, and I would've had time to teach them more, instead of spending time searching the crowds for you. Don't complain to me, because if they die, it's your fault. Here, eat this. This is the last shenzu nut you get before you die," said the King, tossing her a blackened pod before he left.

Rem shook with fury…she didn't believe for a second that the king really wanted a miraculous transformation of the realm's shinigami; although whether or not he was aware of that and making excuses, or was simply deluding himself into thinking that was what he wanted, she wasn't sure. She'd seen it before, in so many sadistic and tyrannical humans with too much power…there were many more similarities between humans and shinigami than most shinigami realized; so many that they sometimes overwhelmed her. He just wanted an excuse to kill more shinigami…she wondered briefly how many he'd killed before her, when exactly he'd lost his mind during his isolated self-imprisonment and become addicted to dealing death…confining her was one thing, but the injustice of killing every single shinigami in the _entire realm_ for such a weak reason gave Rem the raging desire to rip her chains right out of the wall and tear the king to pieces with her bare teeth. She strained futilely at her chains for a long while, as her rage slowly ebbed into despair… if only she could warn the other shinigami somehow, if only she could escape...how many times had she wished to escape, before now? She'd wanted to get away so long, but only so she herself wouldn't have to die…that reasoning seemed silly to her, now. Dying wasn't so bad, if she could only escape for the mere sake of warning everyone…it was true that many shinigami were lazy and rude, but that wasn't a crime, and certainly not one punishable by death…but escape wasn't any more likely now than it had been eight years ago. Rem sank to her knees as the fury ebbed and a quieter, more futile sense of frustration enveloped her. The worst thing about being chained down here wasn't the pain-that was more of a grave annoyance, in comparison to the helplessness.

Months later, the King came down yet again, right on schedule. Rem had been thinking long and hard about a method of getting out, any method, no matter how unlikely…and the only option seemed to be convincing the king to let her go. It was such a long shot that it was almost ridiculous, but she had nothing to lose …

"Time's almost up, isn't it? You're probably satisfied by now, right? Why not let me go? I'd make a great example to the others of what you'll do to them if they don't shape up…"

"Don't be ridiculous. Do you think I'd deprive myself of the pleasure of killing you…of settling the score between Shoboro and myself?"

"I think you're already even, actually. You have one child left, he has one child left…don't you think that's fair?"

"Well, now that you point that out…killing you will be even more fun. Your death won't simply make this a tie…it'll be a victory, for me!"

"…so it will. But before you kill me, how about letting everyone else see me, and telling them about your plan? They might be so scared, they'll start making tributes to you right away, and I'll be the only one you have to kill."

"Nice try. Do you really think I'd let them think that their king-their wonderful, benevolent king- would do such a thing to a shinigami?"

It was as Rem had thought…he was only interested in killing more shinigami, while letting himself think he was merely being rightfully pragmatic.

"Please…it doesn't make a difference to Shoboro, what you do to me…he's dead. He won't know what you do. You're alive, he's dead…you won. Just let me go already. Killing me won't accomplish anything."

The King smiled at her. "It will accomplish one very important thing. It will make me very happy."

Rem sighed resignedly. "Please…I've suffered enough, don't you think? Just let me go…let me go, or kill me already…."

"…All right. One or the other-you choose."

The words sounded too wonderful to believe, but the king's fiendish chuckling gave Rem a sinking certainty that his twisted mind had come up with something horrible.

"I'm going to kill you today, Rem, and that makes me so pleased I'm feeling almost foolishly generous. How about a little game? I'm going to simply drop the key to your chains on the floor, and if you can reach it, you're free to try and escape. You're already handicapped by your injuries and your wing plate, but that's not enough…to make this fair, I'll place your last injury very strategically." There was another slash with the scythe, right at her face, so painful that Rem almost cried out…almost. She clutched at her oozing eye socket, blinded, and hissed painfully.

"There," said the King, "much better." She heard the metallic jangling of keys as the King detached one from his belt, and a small "clink" as he dropped it.

"It's all up to you now, Rem. I'll be back in one hour, and if you're still here, I'll do as you ask and kill you. Good luck finding the key…if I dropped in within your reach, that is. You're quite lucky; you know…you're the only shinigami in this entire realm who I've told the truth to. You were such good company, and it was nice, having someone to talk to for the first time in centuries. I'm almost sorry I have to kill you…almost." There was cackle of laughter and a "swoosh" of wings, and then the room fell silent.

Rem was numb. She didn't bother grovelling around for the key, in case the King was still around, watching her…even if she could reach the key and unchain herself, which she doubted, she wouldn't get anywhere with no wings, no eye and several injuries slowing her down. There was simply nothing to do, other than to accept her fate and die with dignity. Rem sat calmly, preparing to die silently and unemotionally, in a way that would give the King as little satisfaction as possible. But then she heard flapping, and voices at the other end of the room…voices that didn't belong to the king…

---

Finally, Rem fell silent, her tale finished. The other five shinigami looked at each other fearfully as they digested all the information they'd heard.

"No…no way," said Deridovely. "That whole story is ridiculous. Why should we believe it?"

"I believe it," said Ryuk. "Why the hell would someone like Rem make something like that up?"

"WE'RE GONNA DIE!" Sidoh wailed hysterically. "THE KING'S GONNA KILL US ALL! WE'RE ALL GONNA…"

"Shut up, Sidoh!" Ryuk said. "He's probably looking for her right now, before she can tell anyone this stuff, and if he hears you…"

"BUT WHAT DO WE _DO_!?"

"For one thing, don't act so scared, or you'll get us all killed!" Deridovely snarled. Sidoh shivered, even more frightened than before.

"Seriously, guys, we've gotta think of something fast. You got us into this, Ryuk, so you get us out!" snapped Zellogi.

"What!? When did it become my fault that the King wants to kill everyone?" Ryuk said.

"It's your fault that he's going to kill us sooner instead of later, because it was your stupid idea to take off with Rem! Do you have any idea how to save us, or do you only come up with plans to get us killed?"

Everyone sat and stared as Ryuk thought. "Geez, guys…I dunno. Ordinarily, you'd ask the old man for help with stuff, but that's not exactly an option, is it? Hyuk…" Ryuk laughed half-heartedly. For a few moments, everyone sat in anxious, brooding silence. Suddenly, Gukku's head shot up, and he cried "Justin!"

"What?" asked Deridovely.

"Ask someone for help…we can ask Armonia Justin! He'll know what to do!"

"Hey, yeah…" said Sidoh, brightening considerably.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" said Zellogi. With that, everyone scrambled to their feet. Ryuk paused to push the boulder over Rem's hiding place.

"Stay there, and make sure no one finds you, got it?" he said. The five shinigami took off toward Justin's usual haunt. Rem sat silently in her hole, wishing that she hadn't caused them so much trouble…but at the same time, glad that she'd been able to escape and warn somebody. She hoped with all her heart that Armonia Justin would be able to come up with a plan…before the King killed him, and everyone else.


	8. Commencement

Midora strolled through the series of rib-like arches, until she finally found Armonia Justin. As usual, Justin was languishing in his chair, absentmindedly puffing on a cigarette. Midora wondered just how he kept getting a hold of those, seeing as how no one had seen Justin actually get up and move for about three hundred years. Whatever-she had a more important question.

"Hey, Armonia Justin," she said. "I wanna go down to the human world for some bananas. How long am I allowed to stay down there if I don't give a human a death note?"

"82 hours, so long as you kill a human before you return. Otherwise, you'll…what the?" Justin said as a large group of shinigami appeared over the horizon, yelling his name. They hurtled downward and hit the ground running; Ryuk, Deridovely, Gukku, Zellogi, and…

"JUSTIN! HELP!" Sidoh yelped right in Justin's face. Justin leaned as far back in his chair as possible, very surprised and more than slightly alarmed.

"Uh…what do you want?"

All five shinigami started yelling at once, and Justin looked even more alarmed. This was _not _how shinigami usually asked him for something.

"Everybody, shut up!" he shouted, and they obeyed. He looked at Sidoh-not difficult, seeing as how Sidoh was looming over him, only inches away. "Do you mind?" he asked. Sidoh took a few timid steps back. Midora chuckled at the spectacle in front of her…the five shinigami were acting like a bunch of frightened human children.

"Much better. Okay…uh, you," said Justin, pointing at Ryuk. "What is it?"

"We're all in big trouble, Justin! You see, we went inside the king's tower…"

"You're right. You are in big trouble. Extreme level. Sorry."

"No, you don't understand! You're in big trouble, too! We're all in big trouble! When we went in the tower…" Ryuk told Justin the whole story, beginning to end, including everything that Rem had told them, with the others chiming in occasionally when he forgot something.

"So, what do you think, Justin? What should we do?" Ryuk asked.

Justin gave him a long, bored, critical look. "You want to know what I think?" he said. "I think if you're bored enough to come up with stories like that, you should go bother someone else with them."

"But it's true! He's going to kill everyone! You have to think of something, quick! I did tell you you're first on his hit list, right?"

"Yes, Ryuk, you did. It would be very scary, if I were dumb enough to believe you. You can leave now."

Ryuk didn't budge. "Justin, I am not kidding. Not even a little bit. You have to believe me, or we're all screwed."

"Nice try, but I'm not falling for it, Ryuk."

Ryuk looked at the other four, who all shrugged at him. Dammit…why did Justin have to be so difficult!? But then again… now that he thought about it, Ryuk supposed he shouldn't have been surprised that Justin wasn't buying their warning about the King. Hell, he wouldn't have believed it himself, if he hadn't seen Rem with his own eyes…of course! Rem!

"I have proof, Justin. Let's make a deal. You'll help us out…if I bring you Rem. Alive."

Justin laughed. "Bring me a long-dead shinigami, eh? Sure. If you can magically restore her to life with that overactive imagination of yours, I'll listen to anything you have to say."

"Be right back," said Ryuk, and the troop of five were on their way, arguing amongst themselves. Justin muttered something about time-wasters as Midora stalked off as well.

"Where they come up with this crap, I don't know…my father, Xithl Beyondormason, huh?" Justin scoffed.

"…you had a brother, too. His name was Armonia Fedor…" a voice, soft as a breeze, drifted out of the landscape. Carefully, Justin turned his head in the direction the voice had come from. He stared at a tall rock that hadn't been there before. It opened one eye and blinked at him.

"What are you talking about, Nu?" Justin asked.

The eye disappeared, and the rock said nothing more.

"Armonia Fedor," Justin mentally repeated, wondering why it sounded so familiar…to his shock, out of the deepest recesses of his memory, the face of a black, skeletal shinigami sprang unbidden before his eyes. Suddenly, Justin felt uneasy.

---

Midora flew near the ground and down the hill covered in viciously thorny creepers, until she came to the area filled with jagged rocks arranged in spine-like tunnels and caves. As usual, Daril Ghiroza was stacking skulls with Vechello while Thruk watched and Calikarcha sat off to the side, albeit looking much more nervous than usual.

"Hey, Midora," Thruk called from the top of the cave.

"Hey, guys. Do you wanna hear what Ryuk just told Justin? It's some pretty messed-up stuff, and he swears it's all true…"

"Sure. What's he going on about?" asked Vechello.

---

A while later, when Ryuk and company got to the rock and pushed it aside, Rem was still down in the hole, and still looking very bad indeed, although she was up on her feet and looked ready to fight.

"Rem…"

"Oh…it's only you," she said as she sat back down. "I couldn't be sure who was moving the rock…"

"All right, Rem, the bad news is that Justin doesn't buy our story, and we're gonna have to bring you to him before he will. The good news is I think I found you a shenzu nut, so maybe getting you there will be a bit easier. Am I right? Is this one of them?"

Ryuk tossed something into the pit, and Rem felt around until she grabbed a hold of it. Its knobbly texture was familiar…her talons found the seam in the pod, and it cracked open.

"Yes. Thank you," she said before she began eating the seeds.

"So, we need to think of a way of getting you to Justin's, before the…"

Ryuk paused as the words "old man" stuck in his throat. Knowing what the King had done, what he was truly capable of…he just couldn't call him "the Old Man" anymore. That wise, kind being that had raised them with such care and concern, the being that every shinigami in the realm would have done anything for, was dead…no; he had never even existed in the first place. The Old Man had been nothing but an illusion, a façade concocted by the King to hide his true nature and win their undeserved respect, loyalty, and adoration...

"...before the King can find you. Have any ideas?"

Rem swallowed the last bite of shenzu nut before answering. "I was thinking about that, after you left…I realized there was a strong possibility that Justin wouldn't believe you without proof. You won't be able to convince him to get up and come here, so yes, you will have to take me to him, and the best strategy is to simply make a break for it as soon as I can move quickly. Get there and get there fast, spending as little time out in the open as possible."

"Wouldn't it be better to disguise her or something first?" Zellogi asked.

Rem shook her head solemnly. "I already thought about that. If a bunch of shinigami who usually sit and do nothing for centuries are seen carrying a large object around, it will attract unwanted attention, and I can't even think of anything they'd possibly want to carry, or why they'd be doing so in the first place. The only thing to do is to go soon, go quickly, and hope for the best."

"Oh, great freakin' idea! Let's parade Rem around the shinigami realm! There's no way the old geezer's gonna notice that!" Zellogi grumbled.

"Unless you have a better idea, Zellogi, shut up," said Ryuk. "I don't see you trying to…stop poking me, Sidoh! What's the matter…_Oh. Crap_."

Another shinigami had appeared far off on the horizon, and he was walking straight towards them…a large, blue shinigami, with bull-like horns and vivid red eyes. Ryuk and Gukku shoved the rock back over the hole, and Zellogi clapped a pre-emptive hand over Sidoh's mouth.

"Do _not_ scream, Sidoh. Just keep your mouth shut, and let Ryuk do all the talking."

Ryuk gave Zellogi a resentful glare, but it was too late to say anything; the King was already within earshot.

"Hey, Ryuk, you got a minute?" he called.

Ryuk shrugged indifferently. "Maybe. Do I know you?"

"I don't think so. Name's Moloch."

Moloch…Ryuk could've sworn he'd…

"Heard that name before? Yeah, I created a bit of a stir in the human world a while back…kind of like you, Ryuk. Anyhow, I'm looking for a female shinigami named Rem. White, bony, purple markings….you guys seen her?" he said, looking straight at each shinigami in turn. To his own horror, Sidoh started trembling.

"…where have you been, Moloch?" Ryuk said as he sat nonchalantly on the rock. "Rem's been dead for nine years. She's nothing but a pile of sand, down in the human world." The tone and inflection of Ryuk's voice was perfect. The other four shinigami had never been so glad that Ryuk was a terrific liar.

The King looked at him as though studying his response. Ryuk looked straight back, perfectly poker-faced.

"…that's too bad," said the King, turning to stare at Sidoh. "So, what's wrong with him?" he asked.

"Stop shaking, stop shaking, he'll know…." Sidoh thought desperately, but to no avail.

Ryuk was in his element. Lying was his game, and somehow, it always put him in the zone when getting caught lying was dangerous.

"Sidoh? The dumbass ate chocolate while he was down in the human world and got himself addicted. You might wanna get going…his withdrawal symptoms are already starting, and they're annoying as hell. Once the shaking starts, it's only a matter of time before he starts yodelling."

The King looked very amused. "Thanks for the heads up," he chuckled. With that, he continued off into the distance. Once he was out of earshot, Sidoh breathed a sigh of relief, but Ryuk dropped his bored smirk and finally looked worried.

"Oh, man! If the King's out of the tower already…" said Ryuk.

"Does that mean it's safe to speak again?" a muffled voice called from beneath the rock, which Ryuk pushed aside.

"Just your luck, eh, Rem? Now what?" he asked.

Rem shrugged. "This doesn't change anything. It simply confirms our suspicions that the King is looking for me, and emphasizes the fact that I'll need to move through the open quickly."

"Speaking of which…Rem, if we got that wing plate off you, do you think you could fly?" Ryuk asked.

"Yes. I'm already starting to feel my strength return, due to that shenzu nut you found. I won't heal completely for a while, but I should be able to move effectively on my own in about five days."

"So…how are you supposed to take it off?"

Rem sighed resignedly. "There's nothing for it…I don't think it's designed to just be "taken off". You're going to have to rip it out."

"Are you serious? Won't that hurt?" Sidoh asked in disbelief.

"I'm used to pain. One more instance of it won't be the end of me."

There was a long pause. "Any volunteers?" Ryuk said, half-jokingly. Every other shinigami stared directly at him. "Geez, you guys are making me do everything today," he grimaced as he hopped into the pit with Rem.

"…Your idea, Ryuk," said Zellogi.

"Shut up, Zellogi." Ryuk studied the wing plate on Rem's back…it was held on by four screws, one in each corner. He thought he'd be able to rip it off by himself in one go…hopefully. He took hold of the sides of the plate and got a firm, strong grip.

"Ready. Are you sure about this?"

"Yes…I told you, I'm used to pain. Just get it over with," said Rem.

Ryuk hadn't known that Rem had that much guts…maybe describing her as "spongy" all these years hadn't been totally fair. Ryuk resolved to think up a better adjective as he gave the plate a firm, hard yank.


	9. Recollection

After Midora had told a few shinigami what Ryuk had said, she'd gone back to Justin's to wait and see what he was going to try and pull off next. Apparently, the shinigami she'd told had gone on and told more shinigami his story, and soon dozens of them were gathered by Justin's throne, chattering away as they waited. It was the last place in the shinigami realm you'd expect Nu to be, but she was waiting too, silently and motionlessly. Strange…you'd think she would have moved off somewhere quieter a while ago. They only had to wait a few days before Sidoh came winging his way down.

"Look, one came back! What did you do with everyone else, Sidoh?"

"Where's the dead shinigami?"

"Did you bring her back to life, after all? Hee hee hee…"

Sidoh looked surprised to see so many shinigami waiting. He looked at every single one very carefully, and sighed with relief.

"Good. The King isn't here," said Sidoh. "That means I can just wait until everyone else catches up."

"What is it, Sidoh?" Justin asked. Midora was confused…why did Justin sound…worried?

"If the King was waiting here, I was supposed to turn back and warn everyone not to come. We're bringing Rem."

An excited murmur ran through the crowd.

"Yeah, right."

"Whaddya think they're up to?"

"This oughta be good."

---

Meanwhile, Ryuk had already set off. The plan was to have a shinigami flying about a mile away from each of Rem's four sides, so if the King was still out looking and heading her way, they could stop him before he reached Rem and send him off in the wrong direction. Ryuk was bringing up the front. He'd made it about halfway when he saw exactly what he'd been hoping not to, coming straight at him. Ryuk put on his game face…time for round three.

"Hey, Moloch!" he called, having carefully remembered the King's alias.

The King paused in midair, but didn't say anything.

"You wanted to find Rem, right?"

"Yes, I did," said the King.

"You're not going to believe it, but…she's alive! You should see her…she's really beat up, spouting sand all over, missing her eye…and she says the King did it to her, after he faked her death!"

"What?" said the King, sounding genuinely disbelieving.

Ryuk smiled inwardly. The King was almost as good as he was at the deception game. "If you don't believe me, she's over that way, hiding under that really big tree with the weird pod things," said Ryuk, pointing in a direction away from Rem's line of flight. "If she asks, though, you didn't hear it from me. She made me swear not to tell because she's afraid of the King finding her or something."

Surprisingly, the King laughed. "So why are you telling me?" he asked.

Ryuk grinned back, mischievously. "Why not? Keeping secrets is boring. Letting them out to do their worst is way more of a riot!"

"Good thing you don't know any of my secrets," the King grinned as he flew off in the direction Ryuk had indicated.

Ryuk desperately hoped that the King thought his own statement was true-that Ryuk knew nothing.

Fifteen minutes later, Ryuk arrived at Justin's throne.

"Hey, Ryuk!" said Sidoh. "The King isn't here!"

"I know," said Ryuk. "I ran into him. Rem's plan worked, though-he's off on a wild goose chase for a bit. If everything happens like it should, Justin, Rem should be here next. Deridovely and Gukku will show up at about the same time after that, and Zellogi's bringing up the rear."

Sure enough, minutes later, Rem touched down…definitely alive, and although she'd healed quite a bit in the last few days, still visibly scarred. A small dot of yellow had just become visible in her mostly empty socket, and it was evidently enough to allow her to see, because she turned to face Justin. Several shinigami gasped when they saw the four dripping wounds on her back that had reopened during flight.

"Do you believe them now?" she asked. Justin had no reply as he looked back at her. No doubt about it, then. As unbelievable as it was, he'd been expecting to see Rem, alive and looking like this. He'd accepted Ryuk's story a few hours after he'd heard it, not because of Ryuk's promise…but because if it weren't true, it wouldn't be tugging at deeply buried memories he felt he had, but couldn't quite dig up...a tall tale simply wouldn't cause him to feel such overwhelming dread. It made sense to be sceptical about anything Ryuk said, but if Justin couldn't believe his own brain…well.

"You knew something about this, didn't you, Nu?" he asked the rock behind him that hadn't budged.

Every single shinigami fell silent as Nu opened her many eyes, one by one. "I know everything. I wondered how long it was going to take before the truth came out," she said.

"What!? You knew all along what the King was up to!? Why didn't you tell anyone!?" Deridovely shouted at her, his sudden arrival having gone unnoticed until now.

Nu winced, and her eyes all snapped shut. Justin shot Deridovely a furious glare, and held up a hand to silence him.

"My apologies. Why didn't you tell anyone, Nu?" Justin asked gently. He was the only one who knew how to talk to Nu without making her clam up and go silent.

"There was no reason to," said Nu.

"Why not?"

"It wouldn't have done any good. Without proof, whomever I told would have reacted just as you did when Ryuk told you. After that, the King would have killed me for exposing the truth, and he'd kill whomever I told for good measure. Now that he's going to kill us all anyway, I can tell you what happened; but before, I needed to keep myself alive, because I am the only one who remembers, and if I die, the truth dies with me."

As Nu spoke, Justin seemed to be concentrating very hard on something within his own mind, as though trying to think of something he'd forgotten, and he went from looking merely worried to absolutely terrified. After a long pause, he finally spoke.

"No. You might not be the only one who remembers…these past few days; there have been half-formed images in my head…this all sounds familiar to me for a reason, doesn't it?"

"You were just a few years shy of your hundredth birthday when the last of the adults died. It's possible you may have a few early memories that the King has given you no reason to recall since then. Think back as far as you can."

Justin slouched over in his chair and held his head, lost deep inside his own thoughts. "That name you said earlier…Armonia Fedor… I've heard it before."

"He was your brother."

"…my twin brother," said Justin.

"Yes."

"What? You remember stuff too, Justin?" said Ryuk.

"Nothing's clear…they're all very faint…"

Justin had never bothered to think about much besides the rules of the shinigami realm, but as he steadily thought backwards in time, all these memories he didn't know he had flashed before him…another shinigami who looked a lot like him, only black, less jewelled, decorated more with bits of metal…and a terrible memory of looking for this shinigami, unable to find both him and another…

"Nu," said Justin. "Who was the golden, skeletal shinigami…she was embossed, and she had golden chains hanging from her head…"

"Armonia Denzai," said Nu. "I'm not surprised you remember your mother. She doted on both of you in extremity."

Justin sighed. "You say you remember everything…how?"

"I'm older than the King thinks I am, and I have a long memory. That's why he considers me dangerous, and calls me the most powerful in the realm after himself…he suspects I remember more than he'd like, but he knew I was smart enough to remain silent. Until now, that is."

He asked the next question reluctantly. "…Do you know what happened to Fedor?"

"He was killed by the King. I witnessed it myself."

No one had ever seen Justin look more pained. The entire crowd sat for a long while, in silence. Finally, Ryuk spoke up.

"What are we gonna do, Justin? We're counting on you for a plan."

As Justin sat up straight, it was easy to see that something in him had changed. There was energy in his posture that had never been there before, and instead of bored and absentminded, the look in his eyes was grim and determined. "We're taking on the King here, and it's not going to be easy. If I'm going to come up with a plan, I'll need a while to think of all the details. But I can tell you one thing right now…the King is a danger to every single shinigami in this realm, and it's going to be either him or us. We have no choice but to get rid of him, one way or another."

"Excellent," said Nu. "I'd like to finally see him regret everything he's done."

Then, something happened that no shinigami had ever seen before, and it made the gravity of the situation crash over them like a tsunami.

Justin stood up.


	10. Summons

When Sidoh got back to Justin's throne, Gukku and Deridovely were just arriving as well.

"How did it go?" asked Justin.

"We met up with a group of about seven shinigami near that patch of apple trees, and when we told them the story, they seemed interested," said Gukku.

"Sidoh?"

"It was horrible! The only shinigami I found was Kinddara, and when I tried to tell her what the King was up to, she bit me!" Sidoh complained.

"Just why are we doing this, anyway?" asked Deridovely.

"The more shinigami we have on our side, the better off we are," said Justin. "There are about five hundred shinigami in this realm, and I bet not one of them likes the idea of being killed. If we get them all on our side, we'll be a force to be reckoned with- the King may have an anti-shinigami weapon, but he's still only one shinigami, and if we have the numbers, I can see being able to do something about him."

Already, the crowd around Justin's throne was growing. More and more shinigami were flocking to the area, asking if the rumour they'd heard was true. The fifty or so shinigami who had been there when Rem had arrived were milling about, assuring the newcomers that it was, that they'd seen Rem herself, and that Nu had confirmed it. Nu herself had gone missing-she was very good at slipping away without anyone noticing.

"Hey, Justin," a mould-encrusted shinigami called. "Where's Rem? I wanna see her, myself."

Justin shook his head. "It's too dangerous for both Rem and the rest of us if she's out in the open. If the King finds her, it will be the end of her and whoever she's with."

"So where is she?"

"I can't tell you that. I'd like to be able to trust you all with that information, but in a large group such as this, I can't be sure someone won't accidentally or purposefully let it slip to the King where she's hiding."

"Wait a minute…if that's the case, isn't it kind of risky that he'll hear about this gathering?" asked Zellogi.

Justin sighed sadly. "That can't be helped. Yes, there is a risk that this will attract the attention of the King. But the shinigami can't do anything about the King's plans if they don't know about them, and they won't know about them unless we tell them. Any actions we take will carry a degree of risk, but they must be carried out regardless, because if we do nothing, we die."

Deridovely gulped. "So if the King finds out we're here, we're toast?"

"Not necessarily. So long as there's no evidence that we actually met Rem, I may be able to pass this off as just a bunch of shinigami getting overexcited about a juicy rumour, and that any planned action against the King is also nothing more than a rumour. That's why I have to keep Rem's hiding place secret. If someone hears her location through association with us and tells the King, and he finds her, _then_ we're in trouble."

"…you _are _the only one who knows where she is, right?" Sidoh gulped.

"Ryuk knows too, but that's because he's hiding with her. Everyone's heard about his role in this whole situation, and if the King finds out that he's responsible for Rem's escape, I doubt he'll be pleased with him. I figured Ryuk was better off in hiding, as well."

"Hey, Justin, what does the King really look like again?" a shinigami asked, and Justin turned away to answer him. Deridovely took this opportunity to have a muttered conversation with Gukku.

"Dude…do you think this is a good idea?" he said, quietly, so they wouldn't be overheard. "I mean…maybe we should just stay out of this."

"What are you talking about?" Gukku whispered back.

"I mean, like Justin said, the King's probably gonna hear about this sooner or later…wouldn't it be better not to be around when that happens?"

"Dude, the king's gonna kill everyone, including you, unless we get rid of him! How can you not want to help?"

"He's the freakin' King, Gukku! What are we gonna be able to do? I've had enough of all this…seems to me like going against him is gonna do nothing but shorten your time…"

"Do you really think so?" asked Sidoh.

"I wasn't talking to you, Sidoh!" Deridovely snarled. "Mind your own business!"

"How you managed to eavesdrop from so far away, I don't know, but don't do it again," said Gukku, definitely annoyed. They turned their backs to Sidoh and walked away as they continued their whispered conversation.

At that moment, Midora drifted out of the sky and went up to talk to Justin.

"I talked to five in the swamp near the big rock. Sounds like they're coming. And…" she couldn't finish.

"And what?" asked Justin.

Fear flashed in Midora's eyes, and her voice trembled a bit. "The King's back in the tower. He's moving the Old Man puppet around again, making it talk…he says he wants to see three shinigami. Kinddara Guivelostain, Daril Ghiroza…and…and Sidoh."

At this, the crowd fell silent, and all eyes turned to Sidoh. Sidoh was certain this was the feeling humans had when they wet themselves with fear. He looked at Justin imploringly, who gave him an apologetic shrug.

"Sorry, Sidoh…you're going to have to go. It will look suspicious if you don't."

"But…but what could he want with me?" Sidoh squeaked.

"…I don't know," Justin admitted. "You'll have to go see. Just remember-you have no idea that Rem's alive, or who Rem even is, for that matter; and as far as you know, the King is the golden thing that hangs from the tower, same as always."

"I bet I know! The King's summoning him to be in the first batch of ones to die," said Zellogi.

Justin shot him a furious, exasperated glare. "Yes, Zellogi, I also thought that might be a possibility, but I suppose I just forgot to mention it, because that's a great thing to tell Sidoh before he has to go face the King by himself. Being out of his mind with terror is really going to help him stay calm and collected. Thank you so much for mentioning that."

Sidoh completely lost it. "NO! NO! NO! I'M NOT DOING IT! I'M NOT GOING! I DON'T WANNA DIE! I DON'T WANNA…!"

"Calm down, Sidoh!"

"NOOO! I CAN'T DO IT! I DON'TWANNADIEIDON'TWANNADIEIDON'TWANNADIE…!"

"CALM DOWN, SIDOH!" Justin roared, rising out of his chair.

With a cowed "eep!", Sidoh fell silent.

Justin sat back down. "I can't deny that it's a possibility the King is summoning you with the intention of killing you… but I don't think that's the case. I think he wants you for another reason, one that we don't have enough information to predict right now."

"What makes you think that?" Sidoh sniffled.

"…right now, it only makes sense that the King's number-one priority is killing Rem and her rescuer, before they can tell anyone what they know and put everyone else on high alert. Frankly, if we didn't know about his plan, the King probably could have killed us for years before we noticed. Shinigami wander off all the time, and it's not like we keep tabs on each other or anything. It's going to be much harder to kill us all if we're onto him, and the King will probably try his hardest to prevent that before he goes ahead with his "culling", so you're probably safe for now. I don't think he's going to start until he either finds Rem or learns that he's too late, and if Rem's memory serves her right, it's not you he's going to start with. It's going to be the lowest-ranking shinigami…and me."

Sidoh still looked terrified, but considerably less so than when he'd been screaming hysterically. "…Is going to him really my only option?" he asked.

"It will be better for you if you do. If you go to him willingly, it will suggest that you have nothing to hide, and if he has to come looking for you, he'll probably be pissed. Just stay calm and keep your facts straight. Go now…if he's impatient, making him wait any longer won't help you."

Sidoh gulped audibly as he looked in the direction of the King's tower. Reluctantly, he spread his wings. He pinched one of them, but he didn't wake up…so this wasn't just a nightmare.

"So, you're certain he's gonna be okay, huh?" Gukku said as Sidoh flew off.

"I'm not certain at all, but he wasn't going to go unless I gave him some reassurance. He might be all right, and he might not. I don't know how intelligent or sane the King is, so I can't judge his odds," said Justin. "All I can say for sure is that right now, I'm glad I'm not him."

---

As Sidoh was flying, he met up with Daril Ghiroza, who was understandably heading in the same direction he was.

"Any idea what the King wants?" Sidoh asked.

"Not a clue," she replied.

Sidoh started to ask Daril if she was scared or not, but then he remembered that he hadn't seen her in the crowd around Justin's throne…at least; he didn't think he'd seen her…

"So…did you hear Ryuk's story?" Sidoh asked, hoping that this wasn't the kind of question that made him seem suspicious.

"Yeah, Midora told us. You ought to tell Ryuk to lay off the apples. It sounds like they're starting to screw with his brain."

So he hadn't seen her, after all… "You don't believe it?"

"Of course not! It was the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Why? Should I believe it?"

Uh, oh…was he supposed to tell her so she'd want to join their side, or was he supposed to lie to keep her from telling the King?

"Uh, I dunno…" he said.

"How can you not know, Sidoh?" she asked. "According to Ryuk's story, you were in the tower and helped find Rem. Did you get amnesia that day, or what?"

Oops…oh, crap, he was blowing it! "Uh…just kidding. I don't believe it either…er, what I meant to say was, it isn't…uh, um…because it isn't. True! I mean, it isn't true, because I wasn't. You know, in the tower..."

"…Doorknob," Daril snickered under her breath. Sidoh sighed inwardly…he was used to being called names…he guessed it was better to be giggled at for a change, rather than snarled at…

Kinddara was already waiting at the foot of the tower when they arrived, right beneath the golden behemoth of a puppet… "No, no, no! Don't think of it as a puppet…I'm supposed to act like it's the real King..." Sidoh thought.

As they landed, Kinddara grinned sinisterly at Sidoh, baring every single one of her teeth. Sidoh clutched at the wing she'd bitten earlier and suppressed a shudder.

"Good. You've arrived," said the large golden "shinigami" with two faces that was suspended from the tower. "I've called the three of you here for a very important reason, but I can't tell you what it is, out in the open like this. Please…come inside."

With that, a door of the tower that was otherwise invisible slid open right in front of them. Daril looked surprised, and Kinddara looked…well, still slightly manic, as usual, but they both went inside without hesitation.

"Oh, no…I'm dead. I'm so dead…" Sidoh groaned mentally.

"Why aren't you coming in, Sidoh? Is something the matter?" the King asked.

"Uh…nothing…" Sidoh squeaked, and then winced as he heard how scared he sounded.

"There's no need to be frightened, Sidoh. You aren't in any trouble," said the King, his voice gentle and comforting. "It's all right. You can come in."

The King's voice was hypnotic…really, how could you not trust him, when he talked that way? Despite having seen Rem firsthand, despite having been in the tower himself when the crucial events were occurring; hearing the Old Man talk the way he'd always talked was almost enough to make Sidoh think that the whole thing really was just a story…

"Come on in, young one. You have nothing to fear."

Slowly, cautiously, he went through the door and into the hallway.


	11. Entrapment

When Sidoh reached the end of the hall, he found himself in the grandest, most impressive chamber he'd ever seen. The floor, the walls, the ceiling, the pillars…everything looked like it was made of pure gold. The room shone and glittered from every surface- Sidoh imagined that this was what it was like to be inside the sun. There was an equally grand and gold-plated throne near the end of the chamber, and Sidoh almost ran back through the hallway and out the door when he saw who was seated on it…a large, blue shinigami with red eyes and horns, holding a large ornate scythe…

"Who are you?" asked Daril Ghiroza.

"I am the King."

"No you're not!" said Kinddara, pointing behind her. "The King's out there."

"I control the golden puppet outside the tower. Only in rare and dire circumstances do I show my true self."

If the King was showing himself to them, and announcing he was the King…that couldn't be good, could it? They were doomed. Sidoh was sure of it.

"That's the King all right, Kinddara. I'd know his voice anywhere. Just a puppet, eh? I never would have guessed," said Daril. "So, you're the real King...to what do I owe the honour?"

"Tell me, all of you…what do you know about Rem? Kinddara?"

"If Rem was a human, I woulda killed him, but I don't remember no humans named Rem. I don't know no shinigami named Rem, neither," said Kinddara.

"Sidoh?"

"Uh…um," Sidoh stammered. "Rem…who?"

"Daril?"

"I can put the face of a shinigami to that name, but I didn't know her well at all. Rumour has it she died in the human world a few years ago."

"Anything else?"

"…Well, there's also this crackpot rumour going around that she's alive, you held her prisoner for years, she escaped, and now you're going to kill everyone…but to me, that just sounds like Ryuk trying to stir up trouble. It's not true, is it?"

"Of course not, young one. The thought of harm befalling any one of you makes me positively ill."

Daril smiled. "That settles it, then. I'll believe the King over Ryuk any day."

"Why, thank you, dear. I'm touched," said the King.

"Don't take it too personally, Great King. It's _Ryuk_, for God's sake. He's nothing but a lying notebook thief-you'd have to be an idiot to believe half the stuff he says. So, why have you been pretending to be a large golden puppet for all these centuries?"

"That's a long story I'll explain to you when we have time, but right now, we have urgent business to attend to. You say Ryuk is the one who started this rumour?"

"Yes."

"Well, Ryuk's story has element of truth to it. Rem is, indeed, alive..."

Where was the King going with this, Sidoh wondered? Was he going to let them live, or was he building up to the point where they got slaughtered?

"And I did keep her locked up in this tower for many years, because she is the most dangerous shinigami this realm has ever seen. Her crime is both horrific and unforgivable…she has killed another shinigami; a piteous, wretched thirteen by the name of Gelus."

Daril and Sidoh were silent with shock, but Kinddara's fierce grin only got wider.

"How? How?" she asked eagerly.

"I suspect she may have gotten hold of one of the King's Weapons without my knowledge, which only makes her more of a danger to every shinigami in this realm…she is as cunning as she is depraved. After she slaughtered poor Gelus, she fled to the human world and managed to vanish for a while before I found her and brought her back to my tower. Killing another shinigami warrants an extreme level punishment, and I should have administered justice to her right then and there…but I failed you all. Out of curiosity, I merely kept her restrained, trying to convince her to tell me how she had killed Gelus-if she had stolen a King's Weapon, and if she had, how she had done so…but before I could persuade her to tell me, she escaped, to my utmost horror. Now, she is free somewhere in the shinigami realm, living amongst all my poor, innocent, unsuspecting little ones, and I have no doubt that she will kill again…" the King sighed sorrowfully, his voice catching as he spoke. "That is why I summoned each of you here. I require assistance from the three of you to find her…Sidoh's assistance, in particular."

Sidoh had been trying to make sense of this new version of events he had just been told, and the King's statement took him by surprise. "W-what? Me?" he asked incredulously. "What can I do? I'm just some low-ranking shinigami who…"

"Low-ranking? What makes you think so, Sidoh?"

"Well…it's kind of obvious," Sidoh muttered self-consciously. "I mean, everyone says so…I'm…well, I'm…you know."

"What do I know, Sidoh?"

Sidoh hung his head in shame as he reluctantly admitted, "I'm…well, I'm…uh…not too bright, I guess."

"Intelligence isn't everything, Sidoh. You are an eight, and that's near the middle of the ranking scale, but with every rank you go down, the more shinigami are assigned to it…there is only one 1, and only one 2, but there are about ten 3s, and about thirty fours…going down the scale, and keeping your ranking in mind, you are actually higher-ranked than more than three-fifths of the shinigami in this realm. I wouldn't call that low."

"What!?" Sidoh squawked. After all these centuries of shinigami calling him a moron and a weenie, of being bossed around by almost everyone in the realm…he actually outranked more than half of them?

"Exceptional intelligence helps tremendously in attaining a high rank, but it isn't the only factor I look at. Do you remember the things I occasionally made all of you do, other than write in your notebooks and learn the rules of the realm?"

Yes, Sidoh remembered…every once in a while, the King used to make them do odd things like identify letters hung from the top of the tower that got increasingly smaller, or fly or run from one point to the another…that had been fun. Sidoh had always finished first, and the first time, he had waited gleefully at the end for the others to catch up so he could gloat over his victory…for a few seconds, anyway, until Deridovely called him a retard and snarled at him to shut the hell up. Sidoh still always finished first after that, but he never said anything about it again.

"They were tests for things other than just intelligence, and Sidoh, my boy, what you lack in that area, you make up for in many others…I'm not trying to flatter you with what I'm about to say. I don't need to, because the facts speak for themselves. Sidoh, you are the fastest shinigami in this entire realm, both on foot and in the air, and you also posses incredible stamina and coordination. Your hearing is twice as good as the average, but it's still nothing compared to your eyesight…you are one of the few in thousands upon thousands of shinigami who can see a shinigami's footprint."

"Holy Crap! You can see shinigami footprints, Sidoh?" Daril said in amazement.

"You can't?" said Sidoh, equally amazed.

"Shinigami are nearly weightless, and if they do happen to be walking in soft material, their footprints are mere micrometers deep. She can't see them, I can't see them…no one in this realm but you can see them, Sidoh. You have what's called supersensory perception, and in your case, it has manifested itself in eyesight hundreds of times more powerful than average…this, combined with all your other talents, makes you a natural-born tracker."

"Tracker…," Daril muttered as she realized what the King was getting at.

"Daril Ghiroza is also fast and very agile, in addition to being the third most intelligent shinigami in the realm. Therefore, I am appointing her the leader of this group-my group of elite trackers. I need you to find Rem, and bring her back, before she can harm anyone else. That's where Kinddara comes in-if Rem is unwilling to come with you, I'm sure Kinddara will be able to pose enough of a threat to convince her otherwise. But before you leave, there are a few things I must do…I need to teach the three of you how to bring Rem down if she becomes violent, and I have to teach Daril everything I know about tracking, so you can still find her even if Sidoh doesn't locate any footprints. But before that…is there anything you'd like to tell me, Sidoh?"

Sidoh felt as though his innards had suddenly disappeared, only to be replaced with a large number of squirming things. "Uh…um…I…I…I don't know what you mean, Great King?"

"Are you sure, Sidoh? You aren't hiding anything from me, are you?"

"N-n-n-oooo…"

The King sat further back in his chair. "Hmmm," he sighed. "Is that so? Tell me, Sidoh…before I called you here, I tried to find Rem myself, so I wouldn't have to involve any of my little ones unless absolutely necessary; and I remember seeing you…did you manage to find some chocolate after I left?"

"Chocolate?" Sidoh said, confused.

"Yes. Ryuk told me that without chocolate, you exhibit obvious withdrawal symptoms. You seem to be fairly normal right now, so I assume you managed to procure some chocolate, correct?"

"Uh…yes. For my symptoms…I got chocolate. Yeah."

"Really? I find that rather curious, seeing as how chocolate contains no monosaccharide fructose, and therefore is not physically addictive, and won't produce physical withdrawal symptoms in a shinigami that consumes it."

Sidoh felt his heart stop, his vision spun; he hoped desperately that he'd pass out and stay unconscious while the King killed him…

"Normally, Sidoh, I'd have to punish you severely for lying to the King, but right now, I need you…and I have a feeling you wouldn't be lying to me if you weren't desperately afraid, which I can't blame you for. I had my suspicions, as soon as Ryuk told me the lie about the chocolate, that the five of you knew something about Rem...that you may have even had the misfortune of running into her. She may have concocted a horrible story about me, or simply threatened you so that you'd be too afraid to come to me, and she'd remain free to kill…but you can tell me everything, Sidoh. You're safe now; she can't harm you while you're under my care. Anything you may have done up to this point will be absolved by telling me what you know. Please…I'm listening."

So the jig was up…Sidoh didn't have a choice. It seemed that he could either cooperate with the King, or die…it was like Deridovely had said. Going against the King was pointless. It would only make his own death come sooner…at the cost of the deaths of his friends…Gukku, Deridovely, Zellogi…wait.

Why did Sidoh consider them friends, he wondered? All his life, they'd done nothing but mock him and insult him. If he was back by Justin's throne, and they were here in his place, would they refuse to help the King, just so he'd be safe? Somehow, he didn't think so. There was no way he could stay alive and protect everyone at the same time…Sidoh couldn't come up with plausible lies off the top of his head like Ryuk could…and he desperately didn't want to die. And who knew…maybe the King was telling the truth, after all. Maybe Rem wasn't as innocent as she seemed; maybe it was a good idea to help the King…

"Promise you won't get mad?" he said.

"Promise," said the King.


	12. Hunted

This area of the shinigami realm was dry and barren, and a hot wind continuously blasted down on it. This wind had carved the rocks into jagged peaks, and they erupted from the landscape like quills covering a massive porcupine. Not many shinigami visited this inhospitable corner of the realm, so not many knew that there was a network of tunnels running underneath the red sandstone rocks that sprouted from the ground. It was in one of these tunnels that Justin, having temporarily left his throne, was sitting with Ryuk and Rem.

"…And then we left through a really big window, right about here," said Ryuk, using a stick to point to the middle section of a tower drawn crudely in the sand.

"I see," said Justin. "Rem? What about you?"

"I didn't see nearly as much of the tower as Ryuk did," she said as she took the stick from Ryuk. "Entering the top of the tower from the side next to the viewing holes, we went down this staircase, the one in the middle. That led to a small room, full of many weapons, chains, wing plates, and other devices that looked to be made of tzargantium…after that, I was knocked unconscious, and I didn't see any more of the tower other than the room Ryuk already told you about. However, the King did mention a room within the tower from which he can control all of the viewing holes, and see what's displayed on them at the moment."

"That's very interesting…I'll have to keep that in mind. Viewing hole control room, in an unknown location…," Justin he said as he drew a question mark on the map they were developing.

"There's also a great golden hall on the ground floor, right at the front of the tower," an ethereal voice floated down from above them.

All three shinigami sprang to their feet, searching wildly for the intruder. Justin spotted her first.

"Nu!" he said, quietly, suppressing his urge to yell so he wouldn't scare away the black rock perched on the ledge of red rock near the ceiling. "How did you get here!?"

"I flew," she said, as though it should've been obvious.

"That's not what I meant! How did you find us? If it's that easy, we need to move right away…"

"Any attempts to hide Ryuk and Rem will be futile from now on. I watched and learned as long as I could before it would be too late to warn you if I didn't leave…the hunters are coming for them."

"The hunters? What…" Ryuk started to say, until Justin shushed him.

"She won't finish if you interrupt her," he cautioned.

"The King has taken Kinddara Guivelostain, Daril Ghiroza, and Sidoh, and turned them into his hunters. He selected Daril for her intelligence, Kinddara for her aggressiveness, and Sidoh for his incredible sense of sight-strong enough to see shinigami footprints. All three posses incredible speed, and due to the King's training, they've become skilled fighters as well. You can't hide any longer. You must run immediately."

So that had been what the King had wanted…this wasn't good, and Justin had a feeling it was about to get worse.

"Sidoh told the King everything, didn't he?" he asked.

"Sidoh has never possessed great emotional strength. Keeping so many secrets was too much of a strain for him, and he readily told them when the King regained his trust with a well-crafted lie. The King's official stance is no longer that Rem is dead-now, she's killed a shinigami named Gelus, and the King justly and humanely imprisoned her for this reason. Leave now, before it is too late."

Ryuk was dumbfounded. "How can he buy that?! Did he forget how Rem looked when we found her?"

"The King has convinced him that Rem is so depraved, she gave herself all those injuries. You must run."

All three shinigami were shocked silent for a moment, but Nu didn't let the moment last long.

"You must run. The hunters are coming."

"Exactly how did you find this out, Nu?" Justin asked.

"I don't need a cave in order to hide. I watched the entire thing from the rafters. The King was giving Daril Ghiroza one final piece of instruction before I left. The hunters are swift, and they're certainly on their way by now. They are well equipped to capture you, and they will bring you to the King to be executed. You have wasted much time asking me questions. It may be too late, even if you start running now."

Ryuk and Rem looked at each other with panic in their eyes. Flying would have made them more visible over a wider area, so Justin had led them all the way here on foot instead, staying under the cover of trees or rocks when possible. It had seemed like the best idea at the time, but Justin had had no way of anticipating that the King would suddenly have a team of trackers that could follow their invisible footprints. Ryuk and Rem stood frozen, their brains stalled with panic…

"What are you waiting for? Do as she says! Run! RUN!" Justin yelled.

Ryuk and Rem shot out of the cave, flapping for their lives.

---

Sidoh had spotted Rem's prints after only a partial circle around the general area where Justin's throne was, as well as Justin's and Ryuk's. He kept his head down as he ran and kept his eyes trained on the prints; Daril and Kinddara had taken to the air in order to keep up to him. Sidoh was completely absorbed in his task of chasing the footprints; to his surprise, this was actually kind of fun. At least, it would have been fun if he didn't keep having these tiny little pulses of guilt-the King's orders had been to capture both Rem and her rescuer, Ryuk. He didn't know Rem all that well, so he couldn't really feel too badly about bringing her in while there was a chance that the King was telling the truth about her. Ryuk, however…Sidoh was reluctant to track him down and drag him to his possible doom. Other than that one time Ryuk "borrowed" his notebook without asking, he'd actually been half-decent to Sidoh most of the time. Heck, he'd occasionally told the other guys to lay off when Sidoh couldn't take any more mockery from them. Sidoh hoped Ryuk would understand. He was in too deep; he had no choice but to do what the King told him. He focused his mind back on the prints, on chasing them to their end…

---

"Where are we going?" Rem called, lagging behind Ryuk due to her semi-healed injuries.

"I dunno! Just away!"

Being a shinigami, Ryuk had never truly feared for his life before…sure, he'd been reasonably concerned about the King ever since he'd found Rem, but that was nothing compared to the sheer blind terror that was screaming through him now. He was being hunted down like a helpless prey animal, and he had nowhere to run to, nowhere to hide…

---

Sidoh stopped when he hit the edge of the porcupine-quill rocks.

"No more prints, Daril. They went into this rocky place."

"No problem. If they came back out of here, we'll find traces of them around the edges."

"Do we get to use the knives if we find them?" Kinddara asked.

"No, Kinddara," Daril said. "The King specifically demanded that we bring them back alive, if at all possible. He gave us the knives for self defence only, not killing. We only use them if our lives are in danger, understand? It's the King's job to kill them, if need be."

"What if I can't see any prints?" Sidoh asked nervously.

"Then they're still in there somewhere. If you can't see any prints, there aren't any prints, Sidoh. You won't miss them. Go."

Sidoh took off, eyes to the ground, his feet a blur, while Daril and Kinddara flapped behind him. It didn't take long before he stopped.

"What is it, Sidoh? Prints?" Daril asked.

"No…but you said to point out anything unusual. Can you see them?"

Daril looked at where Sidoh was pointing; little swirling marks in the sand led off into the distance…

"Aha," said Daril. "Two shinigami, flying just above the sand, low enough for their wing beats to disturb it…seems to me like they were trying to stay low, but avoid walking…it would have been clever, it they'd flown just a bit higher…"

"So you think it's them?" Kinddara asked.

"Only one way to find out."

---

"Hold it, Ryuk! Stop for a second! We need to think of a plan!" Rem gasped, their desperate sprint beginning to take its toll on her.

Every neuron of Ryuk's brain screamed at him to keep running, but his body wasn't listening…he needed to take a break too, before he collapsed. The two shinigami flopped gracelessly onto the ground, their muscles trembling with fear and aching from flying several miles at quintuple-speed.

"So…where…" Ryuk gasped. He wasn't breathing hard due to oxygen deprivation; shinigami didn't need to breathe. However, they did need to take in air in order to talk, and he was so sapped he barely had enough energy to move his lungs. Rem didn't bother trying to talk. They lay there resting for a few minutes, then heaved themselves back onto their feet.

"So where do we go…" Ryuk began, and then stopped as he saw what was standing behind Rem off in the distance.

Sidoh. He stood there staring at Ryuk for a good long time, and Ryuk stared back. Eventually, Sidoh looked down at his feet, then back up at Ryuk, his face full of regret. He shrugged apologetically. It was clear to Ryuk what he meant- he could almost hear Sidoh's voice in his head, saying "Sorry about this, but..."

"FOUND THEM!" Sidoh bellowed.

Daril and Kinddara flew up over the horizon, looking for all the world like a pair of demons Sidoh had summoned. The unseen threat had become real. Ryuk and Rem launched themselves into the sky, all tiredness forgotten in a jolt of pure animalistic terror.

They flapped their wings harder than they'd ever flapped them in their centuries of life, but Ryuk and Rem could hear the wing beats of the hunters steadily getting louder- Nu hadn't exaggerated when she said they were fast. The hunters were bearing down on them; their wing beats were echoing in Ryuk's ears; death was just yards away…a shinigami hit Ryuk from the side, knocking him out of the sky, and they both plummeted downward. Ryuk turned to his attacker, preparing to fight while he braced for impact with the ground…Rem? Rem had knocked him out of the sky? And now they were falling, but they hadn't hit…there were flashes of light, cracks of thunder, a staircase whizzed by, and suddenly they were falling under a starlit sky, with rain pouring down on them…

The three trackers skidded to a halt, the air a steel wall on their wings, pushing hard as they tried to stop their tremendous forward momentum. Daril cursed; Rem had made a clever move, knocking herself and Ryuk out of the sky and straight down the entrance to the human world…

"Down! Down!" she commanded, and they shot back and downward through the barrier between realms, steadily gaining speed. The bright flashes nearly blinded them, and they saw nothing but bright spots as they emerged into the inky black human world night. They paused for a few moments until they could start to see clearly again, and even then, the rain was obstructing their vision even more…

"There!" said Sidoh, pointing at a white winged object and the dark winged object beside it that were getting further and further ahead. The trackers started after them, but Ryuk and Rem had kept going steadily instead of having to stop twice, and inertia had given them both a head start and a heck of a speed to try and catch up to…

Kinddara started to see red; they were getting away, they were getting away… No! They were not going to get away! They were not getting away from her, and if they did, she'd kill them! They were making her so angry…stop trying to get away… stop…stop…

"STOP!" Kinddara shrieked, throwing her knife at the objects.

Rem watched in horror as a cloud of sand suddenly burst from Ryuk, and with a cry of surprise and pain, he dropped out of the sky like a rock.


	13. Critical

Ryuk dropped lower and lower, sand streaming out of him, until he was lost from sight. Daril didn't bother going after him. Judging from the huge gush of sand that had burst out of him, he wasn't going anywhere when he landed. Right now, their main concern was the one that was still moving. Rem was headed straight for a massive human city, looming before them with innumerable lights…she put on an extra burst of speed and made it to the city limits, but they were catching up. It was only a matter of time. Making herself intangible, Rem wove in between the sky-scraping buildings, through them, up, down, side to side, trying to evade the trackers. Daril wasn't used to the human world; she'd only seen it through the viewing holes, and had never actually gone down into it. The bright lights and massive boxlike structures were both confusing and irritating. It was only possible to see glimpses of Rem in between the giant, gaudy flashes of all colors of light coming from signs and posts, which were only made even brighter by the blackness that occurred whenever they flew through a building. Half-blinded, Daril simply flew forward as fast as she could, hoping to catch Rem before this nonsense could go on for too long…suddenly, with a jolt, Daril realized that Rem had disappeared…they had flown through about five buildings, without her in front of them…

"Stop!" she shouted, trying to take a good look around despite the obnoxiously bright neon-coloured lights that were screaming at her eyes.

"Where'd she go?" said Sidoh.

Crap. If even Sidoh couldn't see her…

"Everybody, go up! We'll be able to spot her if we're at higher altitude…"

In a matter of seconds, they were a few hundred feet up, with half of the entire city visible beneath them. The city stretched for miles-there was no way Rem could have flown out of it in that little amount of time, but Daril still couldn't see her.

"Do you see Rem, Sidoh?"

"No...!" said Sidoh, starting to sound panicky.

"Then she's hiding somewhere, probably in one of these buildings. No point searching for her; she might sneak away while we're down there looking…she'll come out eventually, and we'll see her when she does if we stay high. Come on…we'll perch here while we wait."

Kinddara and Sidoh followed Daril to the top of the tallest building around, one with a large, pointed needle sticking out the top of it. Daril stood right in the middle of the building, holding the needle for balance against the blasting wind, and Kinddara and Sidoh sat down on either side of her. Daril scanned the city carefully, patiently; as she waited for Rem to come out…she couldn't hide forever.

---

Rem clung tightly to the underside of the helicopter she'd grabbed onto in mid-chase, listening to the faint babblings of the humans inside.

"Happy New Year, ladies and gentlemen; I'm Wayne Pickford, and this is your evening traffic report. As you can see, we've got a bit of a backup on 1st Avenue; looks like lots of folks are heading downtown already to start the celebrations. No rush yet, but it's only going to get more backed up as the night goes on, and if you want to bring the little ones down to the park before the fireworks start, you may want to hang a left on Broadway instead…"

Rem forced herself to stay underneath the helicopter for a full fifteen minutes while the reporter and his pilot flew steadily farther away from the building they'd taken off from moments before she'd grabbed on, hoping to borrow some speed. Hitching a ride on the helicopter had done more than given her a speed boost…although she hadn't realized it at first, she was perfectly camouflaged with her white body against the painted white metal of the news helicopter, and it seemed as though the hunters had lost track of her completely. Rem may have gotten away, but she wasn't relieved in the slightest. The last she'd seen of Ryuk, he'd been plummeting earthward, badly wounded, and once the hunters realized they'd lost her, they'd go looking straight for him, and there was no way he'd be able to get away…if he was still alive, that is. Sand had been rushing out of him like a river as he'd fallen …Rem couldn't take it anymore. They were near the city limits, anyway; so she was probably as safe as she could get from Sidoh's all-seeing eyes. Rem let go of the helicopter and dashed off in the direction where Ryuk had fallen, determined to find him before the hunters did.

Rem had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach as she neared the place Ryuk had gone down over. She hadn't noticed what they were flying over back then; at that moment, she'd been too frightened to take a gander at the darkened scenery. But now, it was obvious that they had been flying along a coastline, with a long, sandy beach. If the worst had happened, and Ryuk was dead, he was now either under the ocean, or he was just another part of the beach, indistinguishable from the rest. If he'd landed in the water, his death note would have disintegrated, and she'd have no way of finding out if he was alive or dead. Rem hoped he'd landed on the beach, and that she'd find his death note there…she hoped even more that he'd still be a shinigami attached to that death note when she found him, instead of a pile of sand.

Rem flew up and down the beach, searching, but she didn't see any signs of Ryuk. Rem was torn…she was done for if she was still here when the hunters came, and there was no point in getting killed for a shinigami who was already dead. But what if Ryuk was alive and she just kept missing him? She couldn't leave him here to die, especially since it was her fault he was part of this mess…suddenly, Rem spotted something lying on the beach. It was a dark, feathered object; bent at strange angles …it looked like the broken body of a dead crow, only far too large…

Rem swooped down and slid to a stop on the sand beside the object. It was Ryuk…he was still himself, still a shinigami, not a pile of sand…but he was far too still. Deathly still.

Rem had only seen a shinigami die once. Did they always turn to sand when they died, she wondered? Was that the rule, or the exception? Was she…too late? Gingerly, Rem reached out with one bony talon and poked at the wing folded underneath Ryuk's contorted body…

"EEOOOOOWCH!"

Ryuk's body jerked to life; he flopped away from Rem and off his wing, and she was dumbfounded when she saw the damage that had been done.

Ryuk's wing had a massive slash along its entire length. About halfway towards his wingtip, the knife had cut through his wing completely, splitting it in two. Sand was spurting from Ryuk's broken wing, forming a wet, mountainous pile. He looked incredibly weak and in pain; at the rate the sand was leaving him, it looked like he'd be drained dry in a matter of minutes…it was a miracle he was still alive in the first place. Rem had to get him out of here, before the hunters came; and she had to eliminate all traces of his presence. There was a knife sticking out of the sand, made of a metal that didn't look like it came from the human world…she wrapped the blade with pieces of paper abandoned on the beach so it wouldn't accidentally cut her, and then tucked it safely away in the same space in her back she'd used to store her death note and pen. She gave Ryuk's sand pile a quick kick, shuddering in disgust…it was gory, but it had to be spread out so it would dry and become indistinguishable from the rest of the beach before the hunters arrived. She swooped down and clenched Ryuk's wing closed…

"OOOOWW! DON'T TOUCH IT!" Ryuk screamed.

"You'll bleed to death if I don't keep it closed...!"

"NOOO! IT HUUURTS!"

Rem ignored him as she picked him up and swung him onto her back.

"OW! OW! OW! STOP IT! LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"You don't want me to leave you here to die, do you?"

"YES! IT HURTS SOOO MUCH! JUST LET ME DIE!"

"Shhhh. The hunters are coming, and if they hear you…"

"I DON'T CARE! IT HURTS! IT HURTS! YOU HAVE NO IDEA…"

Rem's face went suddenly and incredibly cold as she turned her head to face him. "I have no idea?" she asked, staring into Ryuk's eyes with a look that made him shudder. He stared at Rem's single yellow eye…the one that had been sliced out, and taken weeks to grow back. A vertical scar still bordered her eye where that slice had occurred, stubbornly refusing to heal…much like the hundreds of other scars that still criss-crossed Rem's body…

Ryuk clung to Rem's back, keeping his eyes shut tight and letting out the occasional whimper as she flew off…things were getting fuzzy again…was he going to die this time? Yeah…that sounded nice…it would stop hurting if he died…that was Ryuk's last thought before everything drifted into blackness, and he thought no more.

---

Daril was getting a bad feeling about this. They'd been waiting on top of the tower for a good fifty minutes, and they'd seen no trace of Rem. She'd expected to see Rem after half an hour, at most; as she'd learned from the King, a frightened prey didn't like to lose the location of the trackers who were after it. Rem would have to be right at a window of one of the smaller buildings to watch them from this height, and Sidoh had assured Daril he hadn't seen Rem in any of them. The King had said that Rem was conniving and clever. She also knew the human world better than all three of the trackers... if they hadn't seen Rem by now, it was likely that she'd escaped, using her knowledge of the human world to her advantage.

"Can we go now?" Kinddara hissed.

"Yes. If we haven't seen Rem by now, we're not going to. We'll track her down later…right now; we're going back for Ryuk."

They jumped off the tower and soared back the way they'd come. Daril told Sidoh to take the lead; as Ryuk had fallen, she'd told him to watch carefully and remember where Ryuk landed. Sidoh led them to a long, sandy beach bordering an ocean. Daril stared out at the ocean as she landed…it was peculiar, seeing that much water in person instead of through a tiny little viewing hole. The shinigami realm was so dry, barren and enclosed…all that liquid in one place, stretching on for miles and miles of wide-open space…it was unnerving, really…

"He's gone!" said Sidoh, sounding panicky again.

Daril snapped abruptly out of her brief reverie. "What do you mean?"

"I saw him land on this beach. This is exactly where he landed, but he's not here anymore! Where did he go?"

"He may not have gone anywhere. Do any of the sand grains look different from the others, Sidoh?"

Sidoh concentrated hard on the sand for just a few moments. "Hey…yeah," he said. "There's this great big spatter of really round-looking grains, instead of all rough…"

"That would be sand from a shinigami. Show me exactly where it is, Sidoh."

Sidoh walked around the invisible shape the round sand had made-it was vaguely oblong, and about seven feet across.

Daril considered the shape for a moment. "That's a lot of sand," she said. "You might have killed him, Kinddara."

Kinddara chuckled.

"I wouldn't laugh if I were you. Our job is to bring them back alive, and if he's dead because of you, you've directly disobeyed both the King and me. Plus, if Ryuk is dead, his death note and the knife would still be here, unless somebody picked them up. That somebody is definitely a shinigami…Rem, to be exact. Thanks to you, she now has her own death note, and if she didn't have one of the King's weapons before, she certainly does now."

Kinddara growled irritably at Daril. "Don't be stupid. A human coulda picked 'em up."

"No. If a god of death dies in the human world and leaves a death note behind, only humans able to recognize that god of death's image and voice are able to see his death note. Only a few in seven billion humans can recognize Ryuk, and according to Sidoh, not one of them lives anywhere near here. I think it's obvious what really happened."

"Psh…according to Sidoh…" Kinddara grunted.

"Yes, according to Sidoh…who can actually manage to hold onto his knife, unlike some shinigami."

"Knife? Yeah, I need a new knife! I gotta go get one from the King…" said Kinddara.

"What _you_ need to do is concentrate on finding Rem like you're supposed to. I _might_ let you get a new knife, eventually, but first you need to prove that you're capable of having one. Rem doesn't need any more free weapons, I think."

With a horrible screeching snarl, Kinddara launched herself straight for Daril's throat. Sidoh squealed and covered his eyes. When he dared to look again, he expected to see Kinddara with her teeth sunk into Daril's neck…but instead, Kinddara was flat on her back, the wind knocked out of her.

"I don't need behaviour like that from you, Kinddara. Pull yourself together and be somewhat useful, or I send you back to the King. And before you attack me again, keep in mind that I have a knife, you don't, and I'm the better fighter."

Sidoh was…what was this feeling? But he was also worried…

"Hey, Daril…do you think the King will be mad we screwed up? They kinda got away…"

"Are you scared he'll be mad, Sidoh?"

Ordinarily, Sidoh would've said no, would've denied it…

"I…I guess."

"Don't be. He said to find them, and we will. We can't expect to be perfect on our first try, and the King probably doesn't expect us to be. I think we're doing well, all things considered. Already, we've gotten Rem out of the shinigami realm and away from the other shinigami, so that's a plus. She may know the human world better than us, but we'll learn soon enough. Keep in mind that no matter how many times they escape, no matter how many times they win, we'll be able to go after them again. We only need to capture them once in order to win for good."

Sidoh smiled. Ever since the King had put Daril in charge of this task, she'd kind of grown into her role of leading it…Sidoh hadn't had a chance to see this side of her when she'd done nothing but sit in their realm and gamble. She always sounded like she knew what she was doing, she was always so confident that they would win, and the way she said stuff kind of made Sidoh feel the same way…plus, Kinddara was the scariest shinigami Sidoh knew, and the way Daril had taken care of her, fearlessly and skilfully…Sidoh was kind of impressed. Respectful, even.

"You think we can find them again?"

"I know we can. More specifically, you can. Do you see any more round sand grains, other than the ones in the main spatter?"

Sidoh looked around.

"Yeah, they kind of trail off that way, getting thinner and more spread out…" he said, pointing inland.

"Ah…he's flying…but not on his own, judging by how much sand he left on the beach…we've got them. Good work, Sidoh. Let's go."

And just when Sidoh was beginning to think the trail had gone cold, they were on it again.


	14. Luminosity

Rem flew as fast as she could, but it was awkward, trying to flap while holding Ryuk's wing closed. It didn't help that she had to flap in such a way that she wouldn't dislodge him; his grip on her back had gotten weaker and weaker, and now he'd gone totally limp, having lost consciousness…or died.

She'd made it back to the city; the area they were in was very dark, very quiet, with few humans out walking around; no cars rumbling up and down the silent streets. All the buildings were empty, dark, and locked up. It made sense, though…nine years ago, the last time she'd been in the human world, whenever something called "New Year's" had happened, all the businesses closed down early, and people flocked to concentrated areas of celebration. Finally, Rem spotted what she'd been looking for.

She flew right through the wall of a building and into a type of place Misa had called a "department store." At night, the store was completely different-instead of brightly lit and bustling with people, merrily whirling their way about with their carts, the store was pitch black. Not one soul was inside; it was so silent that the sound of Ryuk's falling grains of sand echoed throughout the store over the quiet rumble of the building's heating system.

Having never had to treat an injured shinigami, Rem had no idea exactly what it was she was supposed to be doing. However, she was fairly certain that she should get Ryuk's wound closed up before there was nothing left to drain out of it. She walked up and down a few aisles, looking around until she found something that looked helpful, right next to a patio furniture display…duct tape. Misa had occasionally used it to patch things up or hold things together, like when her nightstand had broken after an inebriated friend fell on it during a party. Until she went and picked up a new one, the old nightstand had been held together with duct tape…

Rem set Ryuk down on a nearby cushioned reclining chair, finally taking her hand away from his wing in order to tear open the package of tape. Working quickly, she tore a long strip off and started taping Ryuk's wing-one strip along the gash, on both sides of his wing, and then several shorter strips crosswise in order to hold it in place.

There…finally, Ryuk wasn't losing any more sand; it was all taped securely inside his body. Whether or not it would do any good remained to be seen. Ryuk hadn't moved since he'd gone still again while she'd flown him here. Rem couldn't exactly check to see if he was breathing, or take his pulse-he was a shinigami, after all-and she had no idea if shinigami always turned to sand when they died, or not. Unless Ryuk moved or spoke, she had no way of knowing if he was alive or if she'd flown in and patched up a corpse. Rem wanted to sit and watch; to wait for something to happen; but that wouldn't help. There was no time for idling; they were being hunted here. She had to start thinking of what came next. She walked through the wall of the department store, flew around for a bit to scope out its surroundings…

---

It was dark. And…soft. Was this what nothingness was like? No… "Nothingness" wouldn't be soft, with blue flowers on it. Maybe something different happened when shinigami died? Wait…his wing…it still hurt…

Ryuk snapped out of his dreamy half-awake state and realized that he was lying facedown on top of a disgustingly floral couch or something, in a building in the human world. His wing was throbbing, but that wasn't what had woken him up. He was incredibly hungry…his throat was so dry…his limbs were itchy; he felt his arm twist itself up of its own accord…

"Apple…" he mumbled.

"Ryuk?"

"Apple…I need an apple…"

"Ryuk! You're alive! You haven't moved in hours…"

"Yeah, I'm alive. Where can I find an apple?"

"…I figured as much. Here."

Rem was sitting on the floor beside him, an apple in her outstretched hand. Ryuk grabbed it with his non-twisted hand and greedily wolfed it down. Ah…sweet relief…the itchiness and spastic tension in his limbs started to lessen, and disappeared altogether with the last bite.

"So…where am I? What happened? All I remember is getting hit with something and going down, then it gets all fuzzy…"

"You landed on a beach. After I managed to elude the hunters for a moment, I went back and got you, flew you here, and patched you up. I'm glad that my efforts weren't wasted…that you're still alive…"

"Why?"

"Hm? What do you mean, "why"?"

"Why the hell did you go back and get me, when they were after you?"

"Would you have preferred that I left you for them?"

"No…but seriously, why? That doesn't make sense, putting yourself in danger just to save some other shinigami…I mean; we aren't even friends or anything…"

"You put yourself in danger when you took me out of the tower."

"Yeah, but I didn't know what I was doing. Why would you go back and get me when you knew how risky it was?"

"I had to. I couldn't just leave you there to die."

Ryuk looked at Rem, incredulously. Just when he'd begun to think that she was made of sterner stuff, there she went again, acting like…like…well, a gigantic freakin' softy. Spongy as ever.

"Well, that's just stupid…but thanks anyway, I suppose."

"You're welcome. You can go to sleep again. It will help with the healing process."

With that, Rem looked away, thinking. Sleep sounded good, Ryuk thought…while he'd been asleep before, his damn wing hadn't bothered him…he drifted off again, more easily than he thought was possible.

---

He snapped awake again when Rem shook him, covering his mouth with one hand.

"Hhhm?" Ryuk said, or rather hummed, unable to say anything.

"Shhh. They're here."

Ryuk didn't have to guess at who she meant by "they."

"Meet me inside the grocery store six blocks down from here, but don't start off until I've led them away. Don't try to fly, and don't walk through anything…the tape won't dematerialize because isn't part of the shinigami realm or you, and it will fall off. Sorry…I have to borrow this."

Rem snatched Ryuk's death note out of the holster-like accessory on his hip and ran off.

As soon as Rem had heard the telltale "zuuuu…" sound of a shinigami walking through a wall echoing from somewhere far off in the store, she'd known that the hunters had caught back up. She'd tried to think of a plan while Ryuk had slept, and this was the best one she had so far. She looked at a clock as she ran toward the sound…11:35. A bit early, but it might still work…she had to buy some time for Ryuk, who was too injured to get away with the hunters this close to him…

She rounded the corner, and came face to face with all three hunters. She screamed, trying to sound surprised…it didn't take much acting. She shot up through the ceiling of the building, and heard three distinct zipping sounds…good, the hunters were following. The main thing was to lead them away from Ryuk. Rem flew as quickly as she could, weaving in between and through buildings in an evasive manner, but not so evasive that the hunters would lose her. Although she'd had a good long rest after finding that apple, and the hunters were probably somewhat tired from combing the city for her, she knew she still wouldn't be able to outrun them for too long. Timing was going to be key-not so soon that Ryuk wouldn't have time to get to their meeting spot, not so late that her plan wouldn't be possible anymore, and above all, before the hunters managed to catch up to her…

Rem kept flying, going back and forth, up and down, trying to make her movements seem random, but in truth, making her way in a very specific direction. Whenever possible, she flew right through lit-up billboards and movie theatre signs, things that glowed and flashed brightly-she knew Daril wouldn't like that, being sensitive to light…

She flew through a grandiose, glowing clock near the top of a large chain store. 11:45…okay. She had enough time, but…

Rem looked back quickly, just for a moment…yikes! And she'd been worried about being too evasive…despite all the weaving, ducking, and flying through neon signs, the hunters were right on her tail. That decided it…this was going to be the home stretch…Rem broke out in a sprint, giving up on trying to be elusive and heading straight for her final destination as quickly as possible. Just a bit further…she had to hold out…that was _not_ the sound of wing beats getting louder, they couldn't fly that fast, she was just panicking… there it was! Rem whipped out Ryuk's death note and put pen to paper, searching the crowd of humans ahead and below for the ones she needed to write down…

---

Daril felt oddly calm as they closed in on Rem. Contented, even. She flew up a little; preparing to drop down on Rem at the same time Sidoh and Kinddara would hit her from the sides and knock her out of the sky…

**BANG!**

Daril shrieked as the entire sky boomed with a sound so loud it had a physical presence...its massive concussion wave pushed her upside down, her ears were ringing, her entire _being_ was ringing…then the sound lit up, obscenely bright, filling the whole sky, burning the eyes right out of her skull…what the hell!? Then another boom, a shriek, a whole series of bangs, each so huge and monumental that they could be seen and felt; they where everywhere, battering her like giant hands, searing her eyes…what the hell!? She couldn't see or feel or hear anything but the sounds; where were Sidoh and Kinddara? Where was Rem? WHAT THE HELL WAS GOING ON!? Every explosion, every assault on her senses sent her heart racing, and it wasn't until she hit the ground that she realized she'd fallen…

---

Rem flew back the way she'd came, still sprinting, hands over her ears and eyes closed. That had been loud…if it had scared Rem, who had known what to expect, then who knows what it had done to the hunters, unused to the human world and having no knowledge of fireworks. As she flew, the sounds of the fireworks got quieter, and she opened her eyes again, took her hands away from her ears…she'd been clutching Ryuk's death note the entire time. Rem looked down at what she'd written, and then looked back over her shoulder at the lights that were still springing up in the sky, amazed that it had worked. She'd thought of it in that same grocery store she'd wandered off to while Ryuk slept, where she'd gotten his apple, where she was going to meet him soon…where she'd found the map that pointed out where the park in this city was. She'd suspected that the hunters would be close behind and that she wouldn't be able to get away with an injured Ryuk in tow…perhaps she shouldn't have let him sleep. Perhaps it would've been better if they'd just started running right away…no. Ryuk had needed rest. He'd been near death…it had done him a world of good. They could run now, now that he was feeling better…she'd been able to buy them a bit of a head start.

---

Slowly, Daril sat up, head spinning, ears ringing, eyes seeing nothing but bright white static. She rubbed at her eyes, trying to clear them…patches of the world were becoming visible, and she was beginning to hear the muffled shouting of the humans around her… "Happy New Year!" "Is he all right?" "Mommy, where are you?" "Oh My God! He's dead!" "Daril!"

Daril? Huh?

"Daril!" Sidoh shouted, running up to her through the crowd of humans. "What happened?"

"Give me a minute…" said Daril, as the pieces of her brain stopped swirling around and she went over what had just happened...Rem, leading them here, writing in a death note before the explosions…the realization hit Daril hard.

"Dammit!" she said. "It was a trick! Rem probably knew this was going to happen…she led us here, on purpose…I should've guessed. The way she just _ran into us_ in that building…she's too smart for that, it wasn't like her…I thought it was suspicious, but then I just followed her anyway…damn it! What a stupid beginner's mistake, chasing after something without thinking…"

Kinddara appeared behind her, laughing. "You fell outa the sky! Hee hee! I was hoping you was gonna go splat. That woulda been funny."

"I am not in the mood right now, Kinddara. We need to get back to that building…find out what Rem was trying to …"

Daril tried to get to her feet, still dizzy, but fell back down. Kinddara giggled again, and shyly, Sidoh stepped forward and helped her up.

"Thanks…" said Daril. He'd expected her to snap at him, tell him she didn't need his help, like most shinigami would…the "thanks" was a bit of a pleasant surprise.

"Are you all right?"

"I'm fine. Are you? You look a little bit shaken up, yourself."

"…I kinda fell too. Those things surprised me…" Under his breath, Sidoh muttered, "I don't know why Kinddara's laughing…she fell down, too…"

Daril laughed appreciatively. "At least we got that out of the way early on…Rem won't be able to fool me like that again. You ready to hunt her back down?"

"…I guess. Sure."

"Good for you, Sidoh. Come on. Let's get back to that building…"

---

Ryuk sat in the aisle of the grocery store, eating the apples off a table. He was exhausted…walking was a lot of work; even more so when he was tired and hurt. Rem had been right; after it became apparent that all the doors in the department store were locked, like an idiot, he'd tried to just walk through a wall, but he'd stopped that when the tape began to stick to the inside of the wall and he'd had to hastily back up and stick it back in place…he'd finally resorted to just picking up a lamp and throwing it through one of those big glass doors. A bunch of alarms went off, but no big deal. He'd thought he was going to have to throw something through the window of the grocery store, too, but luckily he'd found a window that had already been pried open. So here he was, sitting in this grocery store blocks away, wondering when Rem was going to show up and what the heck she'd done…

Zuuuuu…Ryuk turned toward the sound of a shinigami walking through the wall behind him…phew. Just Rem.

"Here," she said, handing him back his death note. "Sorry for taking it like that, but I needed it if I was going to get back here alive…"

Ryuk took his death note back, and flipped to the page Rem had written in…

_Jack Richardson_

_Aaron Fisher_

_Zeke Reynolds_

_Arthur Dewitt_

_Set off New Year's fireworks early due to a miscommunication about the time, and die five minutes later. _

"What did you do, Rem?" Ryuk asked.

"I'll tell you later. Right now, we need to start running."

"What? I just walked six blocks to get here, and now you're going to make me move again? Geez, Rem, I'm exhausted…my wing…"

"I know, but that doesn't change the fact that we're being hunted. Walking is too slow, and you can't fly, so hop on."

Ryuk sighed as he reluctantly got up, putting his death note back in its usual place. He grabbed about five apples and stowed them away before clambering onto Rem's back.

"Good thinking," she said. "I don't know when you'll have another opportunity to get a hold of apples."

"So when will I get the opportunity to rest?"

"I don't know. Something tells me we won't be able to rest again for a long time. You'd better get used to running…I think we're going to be doing a lot of it from now on."


	15. Split

Justin watched Ryuk and Rem fly off into the distance and disappear. So, the King knew everything now…this called for a serious change in plans. Justin sat and thought…what now? The King was now aware that there was a resistance movement-that was a serious blow to the number of options Justin had.

"Nu…," he said, only to look up and find out that she'd disappeared. Of course.

Justin sighed…if he were the King, what would he be doing now? Ryuk and Rem were being taken care of…poor souls. He wished them luck. If he were the King…if he were the King, now he'd probably focus on killing everyone involved with the resistance. That wasn't a one-shinigami job, though; he'd probably try and get help, like what he'd done with the hunters…

"No more prints, Daril. They went into this rocky place."

Justin stiffened. That sounded like Sidoh, a little ways off. Nu was right…he'd been pressed into the King's service. Did he dare…?

Carefully, noiselessly, Justin looked at the entrance to the tunnel, not daring to poke his head out, wondering if he'd be able to see the hunters…he could. They were standing on the edge of the rocks, discussing their next move.

"Do we get to use the knives if we find them?" Kinddara asked.

For the love of Death Notes! The King had given them knives?

"…If you can't see any prints, then there aren't any prints, Sidoh. You won't miss them. Go."

Sidoh shot off like a bullet; in the blink of an eye, the hunters were gone, disappearing in an instant. Well, then. Justin hated to admit it, but they _were_ damned fast…and they had weapons to boot. Ryuk and Rem's odds were not looking good. He probably wouldn't be seeing them again…ever. Nevertheless, there was no point in dwelling on things that he couldn't change. He had to concentrate on the task at hand; getting rid of the King, before he could kill anyone else. Two casualties were enough. The King was probably going to make his next move quickly…Justin had to get to the other shinigami, and fast. The trackers were otherwise occupied right now, and Nu had said nothing about anyone being after him-yet. Plus, time was of the essence…he probably could…

For the first time in hundreds of years, Justin spread his wings and flew out over the shinigami realm.

As he approached his chair, the one all the other shinigami insisted on calling his "throne," he was struck by how quiet the skies were. Mere hours ago, shinigami had been flocking to his chair, inquiring about the rumours. When he got closer, he was aghast to see that several shinigami were missing. About a hundred were still crowded around his chair, standing silently, and every single one watched as Justin landed. If the nervousness and trepidation in the air had been any thicker, Justin would've been able to reach out and touch it. He scanned the crowd, but nothing jumped out at him as having gone wrong…everyone stared back at him, still silent, fearful…

"What happened? What's wrong?" said Justin.

There were several beats of silence. Finally, shyly, Zellogi spoke up…

"The King summoned…well, everyone. He says everyone is supposed to come to him, immediately, no exceptions. He specifically mentioned you…he said you wouldn't come, and he'd reward whoever brought you..."

"And Sidoh hasn't come back. We haven't seen him since…well," said Gukku.

"Some shinigami took off right away, but we were waiting for you to get back, Justin…we don't know what to do. What's going on, you think?" asked Midora.

No…not already...

"I know exactly what's going on. Everyone…I have bad news. I don't know how she did it, but Nu followed Sidoh to the King's tower and watched what happened-Sidoh told the King everything."

Quiet murmurs escaped the crowd, some angry, many fearful…

"Right now, Sidoh is using his superior sight to track down Ryuk and Rem…that's why the King summoned him, along with Daril Ghiroza and Kinddara Guivelostain. I saw all three of them after Ryuk and Rem started fleeing, and was obvious to me that the King knew what he was doing when he selected them…they're fast, they're good, and they're probably going to succeed, and with Ryuk and Rem out of the picture, the King's next logical step is obvious. He's going to get rid of those who know what he's up to and oppose him."

The muttering of the crowd got louder, some shinigami started yelling, and quickly, before they could work themselves up into a frenzy, Justin shouted, "STAY CALM! Panicking won't help! Everyone, calm down and listen up. The King is summoning everyone, because he wants to tell everyone the same story he told Sidoh, and get everyone on his side. He wants to tell you that he imprisoned Rem because she killed a shinigami named Gelus, and after that, he'll likely get as many shinigami as possible to help him catch us."

"We're boned, aren't we?" said Zellogi.

"No, we are not 'boned'. I know of a place where we can hide, and continue with our efforts to save ourselves. Anyone who still wants to stop the King can follow me, now."

Zellogi stepped forward right away, and slowly, gradually, more shinigami started to follow. Gukku had taken a few steps when he noticed that Deridovely wasn't next to him; he looked back, surprised to see that Deridovely hadn't moved.

"Dude, aren't you coming?"

"…I dunno…"

"Come on."

"…Why?"

Several shinigami around them stopped, listening.

"Whaddya mean, 'why?' Don't start up with this again, man…"

"Why shouldn't I start up with it? It's like I said! If I go with these guys, the King's gonna be out to kill me! And it's not gonna be just the King anymore, it's gonna be a whole freakin' mob!" Deridovely said, getting steadily louder. "It's pointless! How the hell are we supposed to take down the King?! How, man?! How?! Ryuk and Rem are already as good as dead, and I'm sure as hell not gonna be next! This whole thing is just stupid!"

As he finished the last sentence, Deridovely realized that he'd been shouting…and every single shinigami was now looking directly at him.

"Stupid, is it?" said Justin, his tone unfathomable. As Deridovely's outrage died, it was replaced by a squirming discomfort as he felt the eyes of all the shinigami on him.

"Well…yeah," he shrugged, trying to look nonchalant. "The King's going to kill you if you try and go against him. I don't wanna die, is all."

"Neither do I," said Justin. "I understand where you're coming from…yes; the prospect of immediate death is frightening. Yes, whoever opposes the King will be under threat of death very soon. But I'm going to try and get rid of him anyway. My logic is this: complying with the King and doing as he wishes will delay your day of death, but sooner or later, it will come, and there will be no stopping it. Trying to stop the King makes it more likely you will die soon; but it also makes it possible that you won't have to die at all. It all comes down to personal choice, I suppose-if you're that incredibly frightened, I suppose you'd want to delay death, even knowing that it will come eventually; rather than face it in the hopes that it can be avoided altogether."

"Come off it, Justin. Everyone knows that you're next, no matter what you do. Of course you're gonna go straight for offing the old geezer…you're only looking after your own ass. Don't act like I'm a moron or a weenie for doing the same thing."

"In what way does the fact that I'd like to avoid my own death change the fact that the King will kill everyone if he's not stopped?"

"Don't change the subject! And don't tell me that you'd still be trying to off the old geezer if you weren't gonna die soon anyway!"

"As I already told you, it wouldn't change the fact that I'd die sooner or later, and I don't want to die at all. Can you think of even one good reason why wouldn't I try and stop him?"

Deridovely was both angry and flustered…who did Justin think he was, putting him on the spot like that? That just wasn't fair…lousy, cheating…

"Fuck you, Justin."

"I'm not forcing you, or anyone, to come with me; but you're welcome to, if you choose." With that, Justin turned around, spread his wings again, and took off. Zellogi and Midora were right behind him, and so were several other shinigami. Gukku gave Deridovely one exasperated look before he took off as well, making a point of not looking back.

They flew for a good long time, and when Justin touched down in a really dry, barren place with lots of weird rocks sticking up out of the ground, he pointed out the entrance to an underground tunnel.

"Head on in," he said. "One at time, please; the opening's not huge, and if we don't want to be found, it should remain that way. Stay in the tunnel, don't run off and explore when you get to the part where it starts branching. This is just one bit of a whole network of tunnels that stretches for miles; I don't want anyone getting lost."

"Wow…that's kinda cool, eh, Der…huh?" said Gukku, finally turning back to look at Deridovely, only to discover that he wasn't there.

"Deridovely?"

Gukku had thought he would've been following right behind…there was no way he could've…

---

As Deridovely sat and listened to the King, along with a few others who hadn't gone after Justin, it struck him how accurate his predictions were so far. The King had told them all about how Rem had killed Gelus, faked her own death, been caught and escaped from the tower, and was now being hunted down by a set of highly skilled trackers that the King had trained himself. The King's voice was hypnotic as he spoke…it kept building and building as he went on, getting more and more powerful, and the shinigami were listening intently, getting more and more into it as the King drew them in…

"…soon, Rem will be caught, and I will finally administer justice on her for all of you. But her malice did not stop with Gelus' brutal murder…many of you have heard the horrid, blasphemous rumour she concocted to try and make you distrust me. After she escaped from my tower, she used the weapon she stole from me in a fit of self-mutilation, and she tried to convince those she met that her injuries were my doing; that I had tortured her for no good reason, and that they would be next."

Roars of anger came from those who this was news to; and some from those who already knew, but were starting to be swayed by the King's overpowering speaking voice…

"I am glad to see that so many of you did not fall for her malicious lies-that so many of you know quite rightly that I am your King; and therefore, I do whatever it takes to protect you. It saddens me to tell you that despite my centuries of care, some shinigami choose to believe that my intentions are less than pure. Rem has poisoned them against me; they are plotting my downfall and demise even as we speak! Tell me-will you allow them to succeed?"

"NO!" was the answer that came resounding through the crowd.

"Do you trust your King!?"

"YES!"

"Then together, we shall find the traitorous vermin who doubt me, and we shall bring justice upon them!"

The crowd around the King was hopelessly drawn in…that had always been, like, a freaky superpower of the King's, being able to get all these lazy-ass shinigami all riled up…Deridovely surprised to find that he was kind of excited, too. He'd only come to the tower so he wouldn't be put on the old geezer's blacklist…but now, after listening to him…

"Go! Find those who did not come when summoned, and bring them here! Your King will do the rest!"

A cloud of shinigami rose into the air, a few hundred of them...a whole lot more than had followed Justin wherever. That was no surprise; even the dumbest shinigami had the number one rule of the realm practically engraved into their brains-King says; you do. Deridovely rose up too…he contemplated actually looking for them, but decided to just wander around, pretending. He'd still be on the old geezer's good side that way…and even if Gukku was being a moron, Deridovely sure as hell wasn't going to be the one to drag him off to get whacked. Stupid Gukku…he'd _told_ him this would happen…why couldn't he have just come to the tower? Even if Deridovely wasn't searching, there were hundreds of other shinigami who would be…it was only a matter of time before Gukku got caught. Stupid…_stupid_…if only he'd listened…it was more obvious that ever, now, that going against the King would only get him killed.


	16. Reflection

"I can't take it, Rem! I need an apple RIGHT NOW!"

"I know, I know. Just hold on a little longer."

Ryuk's contortions were getting serious; he was having trouble hanging on as Rem headed for yet another city, straight ahead. After what seemed like forever, she finally landed in front of a grocery store. Ryuk tumbled off Rem's back, trying not to land on his injured wing despite the awkward positions his limbs were in. Ever since it had gotten injured, Ryuk hadn't been able to move his wing at all; not even to retract it back to its non-flight position. This only made Ryuk look more ridiculous: not only was he twisted up and doing handstands; he constantly had only one wing sticking out, making him look hopelessly lopsided.

"Can you tuck your wing away yet?" she asked.

Ryuk tried. "Ow! Nope. Not gonna happen."

"All right. Wait here."

Rem walked through the wall of the store, and emerged a few minutes later. She pulled about five apples out of the space in her back where she stored everything. It was fairly obvious that Ryuk had no control over his limbs at the moment, so she held one out for him to gnaw away at. It only took one apple for Ryuk to straighten out, and Rem handed him the rest. Ryuk gulped them down one after the other in quick succession, and sighed with satisfaction as he finished the last one. It was only then that he realized…

"Oops. Sorry…I guess I should've saved some for later…"

"It's fine. You need to eat if you're going to heal. Are the apples helping at all? I realize that they're no shenzu nuts, but it's been weeks…"

"I think they are. I mean, my wing doesn't hurt all the time anymore; just if I move it or poke it or something."

"I wish it would heal more quickly. Until you can get that tape inside your body by tucking your wing away, you won't be able to dematerialize it, and if the hunters catch back up to us, it might mean the difference between life and death…"

"You worry too much, Rem. It's been months, and we haven't seen one stinking trace of them."

"That doesn't mean they aren't out there. The sooner you're well enough to use your wing again, the better. Speaking of which- I think now would be a decent time for you to get some rest."

"About time. You have no idea how hard it is to stay awake when you're hurt…oh, yeah. You do…sorry," said Ryuk, quickly, before Rem could give him another one of those looks.

It didn't take long for them to find some discarded, flattened cardboard boxes and drag them under the covered storage area with the shopping carts.

"There," said Rem. "That's a reasonable amount of cover…we should be all right. Go ahead and sleep; I'll keep watch."

Ryuk got down on the boxes, and Rem started scanning the night sky for the hunters. She looked back at Ryuk; to her surprise, he wasn't sleeping- he was staring at her, looking very amused indeed. She went back to watching the sky. To her surprise, Ryuk let out a few "hyuk"s at this…quite a few, actually.

"What?" she finally said, turning back to look at him again.

He was still giggling as he answered. "Rem…sometimes it's hard to believe that you're really a shinigami."

When she gave him a confused look, Ryuk continued, "Well, look at you. Any other shinigami with half a brain would've run off and left me by now. It's pretty obvious I'm slowing you down, and we both know how messy it will be if we're caught. If you had any sense at all, you've flown away while I was sleeping a while ago and let me fend for myself; yet here you are, carting me around, bringing me food, being my watchdog...I just don't get it. I'm curious, Rem…why are you doing it?"

It took Rem a while to answer. "I can't really explain," she finally conceded. "Leaving you to die…it wouldn't sit right with me…it's just sort of the right thing to do, I suppose."

Ryuk launched into another series of "hyuk"s; as though Rem had told him one of the funniest things he'd ever heard.

"Oh, Rem…you're the spongiest little weirdo I've ever met. I gotta admit, though; you're probably the best shinigami to be stuck with right now, considering the state I'm in. You're probably the only reason I'm still alive…"

"You're welcome," said Rem, looking away and back up at the sky.

"So, will you wake me up if the hunters get here, so I can see what you're planning this time? You might have outdone yourself with that firework one…I wish I could've seen it. It was probably even more entertaining in person…"

"Hopefully, they won't show up, and you won't have to see any plan I come up with. Hurry up and get to sleep."

With a shrug and an amused grin, Ryuk drifted off.

---

Sidoh watched as Daril and Kinddara fought. They where a whirl of arms, legs, and in Kinddara's case, teeth; once again, Kinddara was knocked to the ground, and Daril pinned her down.

"How many times do I have to tell you, Kinddara? You can't win a fight by clawing and biting wildly. You need to _think_ about what you're doing…find your opponent's weakness, anticipate their moves…you won't get any better if you keep fighting like a wild animal. I'd better see some improvement next time."

She let go, and Kinddara got back up, looking at her with so much hatred it made Sidoh shudder.

"All right, Sidoh; your turn." With only that brief warning, Daril turned to Sidoh and attacked. He had no time to think; he simply blocked every blow as it came; one after the other, over and over…

Daril stopped. "You know, Sidoh, you're allowed to attack back."

"Sorry…" he said.

"Don't be sorry. You're defending yourself well, but I want to see that you can attack, too." She struck again, and Sidoh continued to block her, move after move…

"Come on, Sidoh! Fight back!"

Sidoh raised a foot to aim a kick…and found himself flat on his back, pinned.

"Too slow, Sidoh."

"Sorry…I suck at this…"

"No, you don't. If you hadn't have hesitated, your kick would've been too fast for me to block or dodge, and I'd have gone down. You've got plenty of talent, Sidoh. You just lack confidence. The second you start believing that you can fight, I'll stand no chance against you. Let's see some more nerve next time, okay?"

She got off, and Sidoh got back to his feet, dizzy with disbelief. He stared at Daril in awe and befuddlement.

"What?" she said.

"Uh…um…"

"Spit it out."

"I guess…thanks."

"Huh?"

"…No one's ever said stuff like that to me before…that I'm, uh…talented, or good at something…you're really…uh…really…nice. For a shinigami, I mean."

Daril shrugged. "I'm not trying to be nice. The King put me in charge of leading you guys, and part of that is keeping you motivated. I'm just trying to improve your performance."

"You don't try to improve her performance by saying she's doing a good job," Sidoh said, pointing at Kinddara, who was sitting a ways off, sulking.

Daril giggled in her bizarre, oddly high-pitched way. "Touché," she said. "But Kinddara's already got an out-of-control temper; she doesn't need a swollen ego to go with it. Even if I did say something good about her, she'd probably forget it five minutes later, just like everything else I tell her."

Sidoh couldn't help it. He laughed too, quietly, afraid that Kinddara would hear.

"I don't care if you guys think I'm nice or not. You've got talent enough for all three of us, but it's not going to be of any use unless you have more confidence, and I'm just trying to get you to improve on it. That's all. Now, let's get back to looking for traces. You too, Kinddara!" Daril shouted at the shinigami who was still stubbornly sitting a distance away.

Sidoh sighed. He still couldn't decide if this was any fun or not…he had hoped that the vaguely dirty feeling he had would hurry up and go away, but it hadn't. He walked around, scanning for prints in the mossy ground of the forest in the middle of nowhere…

"Sidoh, stop walking through trees. Otherwise, I won't be able to tell if another shinigami went through them."

"Oops…Sorry!" said Sidoh, hastily backing out of the pine tree he'd been taking a shortcut through. Daril flew through the trees, feeling for places that were easier to get through, and eventually she flew out of sight. As the King had told them, things in the human world became temporarily easier to move through if another shinigami had already gone through them; Daril was checking if any shinigami had flown through the trees recently. Sidoh wondered if they were still on the right track. They'd tried to have a look at that building Rem had led them away from, despite the screeching alarm and the red lights that were flashing annoyingly, and all the human policemen that showed up afterward, but all they'd found were a few sprinkles of round sand on the floor. With no real clues, they'd simply had to spread out and search, fanning out into the surrounding area…it had taken weeks, but finally, Sidoh had found a skeletal footprint, several miles away from the city. They'd been making their way in that direction ever since, looking for traces that meant they were still on the right track, and with Daril trying to predict where Rem, and possibly Ryuk if he was alive, might've gone next. Unlike the shinigami realm, the human world had a tendency to erase all the footprints it collected through things like weather and human activity, but despite this, they'd found three prints so far. Each one seemed to be in between a city and the one closest to it, progressing in a linear fashion. Right now, they were searching the area between the last city Sidoh had seen a footprint in and another one west of there.

Daril came back into sight, and swooped down and landed next to Sidoh.

"No one's flown through any of the trees near here. Have you found any footprints?"

"Not yet…" said Sidoh, still wandering around looking at the forest floor.

"Well, no wonder; I've never seen you work so slowly. Usually, when you look for prints, you're rushing around like your life depends on it. What's the hold-up?"

Sidoh looked up from scanning the ground. He thought about how he should respond…it was eating at him, this weird guilty feeling. It would be nice to get it out of his head, to ask how to get it to stop…but it seemed like the kind of thing you got sneered at for. Heck, Daril had been the one doing the sneering more than once. But then again… now that they were in the human world, she was acting really different…maybe…maybe it was safe to tell her; maybe she'd be able to help…

"I've been thinking…do you ever get the feeling, like…I dunno…you…don't wanna do this?"

"Why? Are you unhappy, tracking down Ryuk and Rem? Feeling overworked?"

"No, it's not that…it's just…well…Ryuk was kind of a buddy of mine…"

"Oh. That makes sense."

"Why does the King want us to catch him, anyway? Rem, I understand, but why Ryuk? I told him that he didn't know what he was doing, when he took Rem out of the tower…"

"I was wondering that very same thing, actually; right from the moment the King told us who we were tracking down. I went so far as to ask him why…" Daril trailed off.

Sidoh looked at her with rapt attention. When Daril didn't continue, he urged, "So, what did he say?"

"…Have you ever heard the old man when he's angry, Sidoh? I never had, up until then…I didn't even know he was _capable_ of getting angry. All he said was, 'That's my business, and none of yours. Shut up and do as you're told, and you'd better not ask me again.' I've never heard him so angry…I'd never heard him angry at all, before then."

A minute passed in silence.

"I dunno…it just don't like it, tracking down Ryuk…" Sidoh finally spoke up.

"To tell the truth, you might not be tracking Ryuk down anymore. All the sand we found, the fact that Rem had his death note, the way that all the traces we're finding are of Rem, and not Ryuk…there's a fair chance he's already dead, Sidoh. Even if he is still alive, the King told you to track him down, so you're going to have to track him down-you can't help that. It doesn't matter if we like it or not; we do what the King tells us. That's just the way it is."

Sidoh sighed unhappily. "I guess."

"Buck up, Sidoh. Moping about it won't change anything. I know you like tracking when you aren't thinking about Ryuk…I've seen you smiling every time you find a footprint. Just enjoy yourself while you're down here."

Sidoh looked down at his feet-suddenly, his eyes widened in surprise.

"Prints! They're the right length, and they're all skeletal…they lead that way for three steps, then disappear…"

"Atta boy, Sidoh! How fresh are they?"

"They look pretty clear…they're definitely less than a few days old…"

"I knew she was headed this way…if the pattern holds true, she's headed for the next human city in that direction. Everybody up…we're flying the rest of the way."

---

Yet again, Ryuk was starting to get withdrawal symptoms, and Rem headed toward another city. It would've been irksome; having to head for a town or city every five days or so to get apples, if Rem hadn't kept reminding herself that Ryuk needed them to heal. She found a grocery store and brought out some apples for Ryuk, as usual-it was more difficult doing so in the daytime, when the store was full of humans, but she managed to tuck some away while no one was looking. He ate them as she flew through the city, staying fairly low, but high enough that humans wouldn't notice the strands of duct tape that seemed to be flying through the air unsupported, and keeping close to the buildings for the same reason.

"Hey, Rem…why don't we stop and hide in there for a while?"

Rem stopped and looked where Ryuk was pointing…a movie theatre. She turned back and glared at him.

"Come on, Rem. It's almost sunset…wouldn't it be better to hide for a bit, so we can fly out of the city under the cover of darkness?"

"Daril Ghiroza prefers darkness. That's why I'm flying in the light."

"Yeah, but what about Sidoh?"

"He can see in the dark just fine. Even so, Ghiroza's the leader, and they're going to be looking for us on her terms; most likely, during the night. I know what you're up to, Ryuk. You've done this every time we've stopped in a city…you just want to see that movie that's being advertised everywhere..."

"You got me. But seriously, Rem, why not? It's been weeks, and we haven't seen the hunters at all. Can't we afford to take just a little break? Having some fun will be good for me…it'll probably help me heal faster…"

Rem sighed. "If I let you see the movie, will you stop bothering me about it?"

"Cross my heart and hope to die."

Rem flew to the movie theatre and searched along the outside of it until she found an air duct…this was probably the best way to get inside without having to make Ryuk go through a wall or a crowd of humans. She pried off the covering, and they crawled inside, looking through the grates and into the rooms as they went…

"That one!" said Ryuk, looking out into a darkened theatre where the opening credits were starting. Rem went through the grate to the other side, and carefully unscrewed it, silently moving it away from the opening so no humans would hear. It was a good thing that the theatre was so dark…that way, no one would notice the grate moving on its own, or the visible mass of duct tape on the invisible Ryuk. He crawled out of the air duct and down onto the floor of the theatre, choosing a spot at the back to sit down and stare at the screen. Rem followed, and as she sat down next to him, she muttered, "And you call me weird…you and your obsession with human entertainment…"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You've got to be the only shinigami I know who will go out of his way to see something in the human world…the whole time we've been down here, you've wanted to go see this, go play with that…it's just not shinigami-like, the way you have to be curious about everything …"

"What can I say? The shinigami realm is boring."

"Still…why so much interest in this movie? So far, it's very similar to many movies I've seen; there's been a few humans shooting at each other, an explosion or two…It will probably end in a similar manner, as well. There will be a few more explosions, a few more humans shooting at each other, the hero will save the world, and then it ends."

"Well, I can't deny that you're probably right, but it doesn't mean that they're all the same, either. Just watch. You'll get it."

They sat and watched for the two hours it took the hero to blow up a building, get in a few shootouts, be captured, escape by defeating his captors in hand-to-hand combat, and defeat the evil terrorist conglomerate in time to get back home and propose to his girlfriend. Ryuk chuckled throughout the entire movie; Rem sat in silence. Finally, the lights went back up, and Ryuk hid his wing under a seat as the humans started to file out.

"So, whaddya think? Pretty good, eh? I've never seen a human take down another human with an air compressor before…"

Rem didn't answer. The girlfriend that had shown up in flashbacks throughout the movie…small, blonde, always declaring her undying devotion, promising to love the hero no matter what…it reminded her so much of…

"Ryuk…if it's all right with you…there's something I've wanted to do, ever since we came down into the human world. It might be risky, seeing as most shinigami know of our connection to Japan…but I want to check up on Misa. Does she still live there, with Light Yagami?"

"…Uhh…" said Ryuk. He'd forgotten; Rem didn't know what had happened. She'd been locked up for nine years, after all…how could he put this…?

"…I'm…um…no longer attached to Light Yagami."

A light bulb seemed to go off in Rem's head. "Right…you were in the shinigami realm when you took me out of the tower; of course you weren't attached to a human. I should've realized that. Why? Did Light Yagami have to relinquish ownership again? I would've thought he'd have had no more problems, with Ryuzaki dead... what are he and Misa doing right now?"

"Uh…I guess there's no other way to say this, so I'll just say it. He's kind of dead."

"What? How can that be? Ryuzaki was killed…he was unopposed…his lifespan wasn't supposed to run out that early! Why did you kill him?"

"It was finished. I got bored."

"You…you got…," Rem gasped, disbelieving. A strange look was coming over her face… "Then, Misa…what happened to Misa?"

Ryuk shrugged. "Not much. She jumped off a building about a year later."

It was as though he'd slapped her in the face. Rem was staring at the floor, hunched over, shaking… "You…you…killed…"

"…What's the matter with you?"

Rem looked back up at him; and Ryuk recoiled…what _was_ that look on her face? He'd expected some sadness, but instead…she hadn't looked this angry since…well, ever...but that made no sense. What did she care if he'd killed Light?

"You…you killed him…"

"Yeah, I killed him. What's your point?"

The scream of inhuman fury that roared out of Rem shocked Ryuk only slightly more than the fact that she'd attacked him and was now trying to tear his head off with her bare hands.

"AAAARGH! Stop it! Stop it! What are you doing?!"

"YOU BASTARD! YOU KILLED HIM!"

"Why are you attacking me!? You didn't even _like_ Light Yagami!"

"Light Yagami can rot in hell for all I care, but you knew damn well that Misa couldn't live without him! YOU! KILLED! MISA! YOU…….!"

"ACK! Cut it out! What's the matter with you? Since when do you attack…OW!"

"Ever since they KILLED MISA!"

Ryuk hadn't expected her to take the news well, but this had come completely out of left field…Rem was the last shinigami he'd expect to up and attack someone…Ryuk struggled to get out of her grasp; he aimed a kick at her midsection.

With a surprised "oof!," Rem went flying off him and through the wall into the next room. He heard her land, but he didn't hear her get back up-just a cry of frustration and despair…

Nothing happened for a long time. Warily, Ryuk approached the wall Rem had gone through.

"Rem…?" he said, wincing and preparing for another attack…

Her voice came through the wall…it didn't sound crazed anymore, but if Ryuk didn't know better than to think that a shinigami could cry, he would've sworn that Rem was doing just that…

"Why, Ryuk? How could you?"

Ryuk opened his mouth to explain, but before he could, he heard a shinigami walk through the wall in the next room; and someone said, "There she is!"

That was Kinddara's voice. Ryuk bolted for the air vent and jumped inside just as he heard a "thud" behind him and a surprised cry, starting out muffled and suddenly becoming clear. He looked back; Rem had fallen through the wall back into the room he'd just left; Daril Ghiroza had her pinned down, Kinddara was cackling gleefully, and Sidoh was standing by, saying, "I told you I heard her…"

"It's about damn time!" Daril said, practically cheering. "I wondered how long it was going to take before we caught you…"


	17. Variance

Rem was flat on her back, looking up at Daril Ghiroza, who had her pinned down…

"Now, then…," said Daril. "Before we take you back to the King- where's Ryuk?"

Ryuk gulped, it occurred to him to sneak away now, before it was too late…

"I said, where's Ryuk?"

Rem didn't answer. The fear was gone from her face; it had been replaced with a sort of stony resolution…

"I'll ask you one more time, Rem. I know you know where Ryuk is. There's no point in giving us the silent treatment. Tell me now, and maybe you'll be let off easier."

Rem said nothing. Ryuk was mystified…just moments before, she'd been trying to kill him herself; she should be spilling her guts right now…what was she doing?

"So, you're not going to tell me, are you?"

"I can't tell you what I don't know myself," Rem finally said, voice full of contempt. With a snarl, Kinddara pulled out a knife and swooped down...

Ryuk flinched; by the time it occurred to him to look away, it was too late, Kinddara had…stopped, with the knife pressing down on Rem's throat…

"Tell me where he went, bitch!" Kinddara growled, face inches from Rem's, pressing down harder with the knife.

"Kinddara! Where did you get another knife!?"

"Shaddup! And you, stop jerkin' me around! I'm gonna SAW YOUR HEAD OFF if you don't tell RIGHT NOW!" said Kinddara, already making a slicing motion, drawing a few drips of sand…

"CONTROL YOURSELF, Kinddara!" Daril shouted. "Control yourself, or I promise I'll kill you personally!"

Kinddara turned away from Rem, stopping her slicing but keeping the knife in place, and she bared her teeth at Daril in preparation to say something, but before she could…

"Yes. That works just fine. All I ask is that you refrain from killing her…for now."

Kinddara's face went slack in surprise…then, the manically happy and sinister grin that was always creeping Sidoh out…

"I can kill her?"

"Only if she refuses to cooperate-if so, then yes, I'll let you kill her. Just wait until I give you the go-ahead."

Sidoh was confused, and squeamish, and scared…weren't they supposed to bring Rem back alive? Wouldn't the King be mad if they killed her? What was Daril doing? Was he going to have to watch a shinigami die? He hoped not…that sounded icky…

Kinddara held the knife against Rem's throat, smiling gleefully at her.

"Keep the knife there for now, Kinddara, but don't slice until I give the word. You're insulting my intelligence, Rem. I know that you know where Ryuk is-don't try to tell me otherwise. You acquired a death note recently, and there was only one place you could've gotten it from. If I were you, I'd tell me where he is, before…"

Rem couldn't lift up her head to look at Daril due to the knife on her neck; instead, she looked down at her in a cross-eyed fashion…she sighed.

"Fine. If you must know, Ryuk is dead."

Sidoh was surprised when a lump formed in his throat…he'd hoped to be relieved if he found out Ryuk was dead, because then he wouldn't have to feel guilty about tracking him anymore…but instead, he was kind of…sad. Really sad, actually.

"When Kinddara threw the…?" he asked.

"Yes."

"…Oh..."

"You aren't lying to me, are you, Rem?" said Daril.

"Why would I? Protecting Ryuk doesn't benefit me in any way."

"And yet, you're doing it anyway…" Ryuk thought, still watching from inside the air vent. "Kind of ironic, really…finally, you're talking like a real shinigami, but it's just so you can protect me again…what's wrong with you? Why should you care?" Just then, it occurred to Ryuk that he was still sitting there when should've run away a long time ago…what was wrong with _him_, now that he thought of it? Why should _he_ care what happened to Rem?

"Well, words are just words, Rem; right now, I have no way of being certain you're telling the truth…" said Daril.

Kinddara snickered in a perversely playful way; she raised the knife and brought it down and Rem let out a surprised gasp as sand dribbled out of a gash on her face…

"Control, Kinddara!" Daril warned.

Kinddara grinned up at Daril, looking almost thirsty, with all her teeth bared…

"Can I? Can I? Can I?" she asked.

Daril looked down at Rem, considering. Rem's eye widened in alarm…Kinddara was literally vibrating with eagerness…

And still, against his better judgement, Ryuk was watching, holding his breath…it was like the worst of tense moments in movies, only a hundred times worse…okay, now was a good time to get out of here. Rem looked pretty damn doomed, and now was the last chance he'd have to sneak away while they were busy with her…so why wasn't he leaving? He should leave, right now…but…but…

Why the hell couldn't he?

This just wasn't making sense. It still didn't make sense to him as Kinddara snapped, roared, brought the knife up to drive it downward into Rem's neck…and it still didn't make sense as Ryuk leaped out of the air vent…his last clear thought was "I can't believe I'm doing this…"

Then he landed on Kinddara with an insane feral roar; he was vaguely aware of being surprised that he could make such a noise; he knocked her off Rem and drove her into the floor as hard as he could. The knife flew out of Kinddara's hand in a deadly arc toward Daril, who yelped in surprise as she dodged it; but it was nothing compared to the shriek Sidoh let out.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!" he screamed as he bolted out of the theatre…

"Sidoh! …" Daril shouted, but he was already long gone, his shrieks fading away into nothingness…

Ryuk's momentum sent both him and Kinddara rolling along the floor, snarling and clawing at each other as they went. They leaped up when they came to a stop, circling each other briefly before attacking at the same time. Rem rolled over to get to her feet, but Daril pounced and pinned her back down. Ryuk briefly had Kinddara pinned as well, until she punched him in the face; he staggered off her and she leaped up to claw at his eyes, but he knocked her back onto the floor; she rolled out of the way as he attempted to strike again…then she spotted it; the knife in the corner of the theatre that had flown out of her hands…

She dodged past Ryuk and dashed toward the knife; he was right behind her, but it was obvious she'd get there first…he kept running anyway as Kinddara passed Daril and Rem; then, without being aware of thinking to do so, he kicked Daril off Rem and scooped her up in one fluid motion, never stopping as he spread his wings and took off through the theatre wall.

Kinddara grabbed the knife and wheeled around to stab Ryuk, then gaped stupidly as she saw he wasn't there…just Daril, getting to her feet and running toward the wall as she spread her wings and yelled, "Come on! We'll lose them!" They flew right through the wall and the mass of duct tape that was left stuck to it…there was Ryuk, not too far ahead at all, flying while holding Rem…

---

"Oh crap…oh crap....," Ryuk muttered, looking back at the hunters. "Can you fly?"

No answer…Ryuk looked down at Rem, who was clutching her bleeding cheek…instead of saying anything, she just nodded.

"Okay…I'm letting go in three, two, one…"

Ryuk dropped Rem, who immediately had her wings out and was flying along with him, still holding her cheek.

"We need a plan fast, Rem! Whaddya got? Anything?" Ryuk said, starting to sound panicky as he looked back again…

Rem nodded again, made a gesture that clearly meant "follow me"… she went into a steep dive, and Ryuk followed…with growing alarm, he saw that they were approaching the ground with no signs of slowing down, but then he understood…

---

Daril watched as Ryuk and Rem dove into the ground and under it, clearly having made themselves intangible. She dove right down after them, just a few seconds behind, feeling her way along after them in the darkness as they flew through the dirt and concrete; occasionally coming out in underground rooms…she couldn't lose them again, not again…

But then, to her dismay, she was flying through ground with no trace of another shinigami…she stopped, and Kinddara ran into her. Daril pushed her out of the way and started backtracking…she came out in a tunnel. This was where their trail had stopped. The tunnel went on in a straight line on both sides for quite a distance, they hadn't had time to fly that far down it either way-they must've changed direction. Daril flew up and down the tunnel, feeling for the spot they'd gone through, hoping to find it as quickly as possible, getting more and more frustrated as the seconds dragged into minutes, several minutes, still with no trace of them…

There was no trace of them. She'd checked this tunnel in both directions, twice as far as they could've flown in that little amount of time, every square inch of it, and there was no trace of them. Not one. Daril flopped down onto the floor of the tunnel, fists clenched, suppressing a scream of rage…it had taken so long; much longer than it should've, but finally, after weeks of searching, they'd found Rem _and_ Ryuk, only to have them slip out from under their fingers…Rem had done it again, made her look like a fool using whatever trick there was to this tunnel that she didn't know about…

Daril refused to look up at Kinddara, who was standing above her, because if she saw the look that was undoubtedly on Kinddara's face right now, she probably wouldn't be able to stop herself from killing her. Several long minutes passed that way, in silence.

"Now what?" Kinddara grunted.

Daril got up slowly, carefully.

"We're going to find Sidoh," she said, her tone loaded with venom.


	18. Contrition

As Ryuk slid along the subway car, he was stuck by how insanely fast they'd gotten since he'd last been in the human world-this one, at least, had to be three times faster. The top of the car had nothing resembling a handle on it, and when they'd landed on it, the wind had started blasting them backward…Ryuk managed to just barely get a hold on a seam in the metal with his fingernails. Rem was holding onto the same seam, but with only one hand; the other one was still clutching the wound on her cheek. The one hand wasn't enough; she was starting to lose her grip…

"Dammit, there's no way I'm going to attack a hunter to save you, just to let you fly off a subway car and get caught again…" Ryuk thought as he took a hand off the seam, wrapped an arm around Rem, and replaced his hand as quickly as possible.

The car shot through the underground tunnel like a bullet; it only took a few minutes for it to reach its next station and stop. Ryuk took his arm off Rem and made to jump down from the car before he remembered he couldn't just jump down into a crowd of humans with all that tape on his wing; which, by the way, was pretty sore from doing all that flying…flying through…stuff…oh, crap, the _tape_! He'd flown through a whole bunch of walls without even thinking of it…!

Ryuk's head shot around to look at his wing, expecting to see it gushing sand, but while it had been hidden under all that tape, it had healed_._ Well, not exactly-there was a massive white scar running down his wing, with no feathers growing on it, and that scar was throbbing painfully from the flying, but at least he wasn't spraying sand everywhere.

"All right! Look at that, Rem…I'm not crippled anymore!" Ryuk cheered as he jumped down onto the platform. "No more carting me around everywhere…"

Rem didn't answer. She had yet to take her hand off her cheek. She climbed down the side of the train one-handed, and started to walk away.

"Hey…where are you going?"

Ryuk followed Rem as she walked out of the subway station and into an abandoned alley, where she took out a roll of duct tape and tore a piece off, sticking it to her own cheek.

"Right…so humans wouldn't see duct tape floating in midair…you kept that?" Ryuk asked as he hopped up to sit on a garbage can.

Rem finally spoke, but she refused to look at him. "I thought it might prove useful again."

"Geez, Rem, you think of everything. That was pretty brilliant, coming up with that subway thing on the spot…"

Rem shook her head. "I didn't come up with it on the spot. The entire time we've been down here, I've done almost nothing but think up ways to escape the hunters if they catch up. They seem to be working so far, but I wouldn't call them brilliant. They simply take advantage of our knowledge of the human world, and the hunters' lack of it."

"If they're working, then they're brilliant enough…"

"Be quiet. I don't want to talk to you, and I'm sure you understand why."

"…You're still mad about Light and Misa…? You're not going to attack me again, are you?"

"…I suppose not. I can't, after you just saved my life…but that doesn't mean I forgive you."

"Look, I guess I kind of explained it badly…sorry about that. I didn't just randomly kill Light one day for no good reason, you know. Yeah, he did have free reign for a little while as both L and Kira, but he didn't stay unopposed. L actually had these two successors, Near and Mello…one of them used the United States government to start this Special P-something for Kira, and the other one joined the mafia and used them to get a hold of the notebook…it's kind of a long story, but the important thing is that Light got caught. He was either gonna be put in prison for the rest of his life or get executed anyway, so I didn't see the point in letting him live any longer. Heck, I might've done him a favour, killing him then-saved him a lot of suffering."

Rem scoffed. "He got caught, so you killed him, eh? Did it occur to you to let Light Yagami figure out a way to save himself?"

"Yeah. It did occur to me. His brilliant plan turned out to be begging me to kill everyone for him."

Rem said nothing. She stood there like a statue, still not looking at him.

"Look, if it makes you feel better, I'm sorry Misa had to die. I know I didn't feel it as hard as you must have when your human died, but I still thought it kinda sucked when I had to kill Light. He was good for a laugh or two."

More silence.

"Really. I'm sorry."

Rem let out a sigh as she finally turned to face him again.

"So, Light was defeated…backed into a corner, so to speak…"

"Yep. Believe me, if you'd seen him grovelling, you'd have known that he had nothing left."

Rem couldn't look Ryuk in the eye. She spoke to the ground in front of him. "…I'm…sorry I lost control like that. I...shouldn't have said the things I said…"

Ryuk shrugged. "You were upset. It happens."

"Still…that was unacceptable, what I did…it's just… I couldn't think…Misa, dead…I've never been so…"

"You're telling me. Seriously, it's okay."

"Thank you for saving me from the hunters. I didn't expect you to do that, after what you said before…why did you do it?"

Ryuk grimaced. "Don't mention it."

"Don't be modest; you took on Kinddara, for heaven's sake. Why did you do it?"

"I'm not being modest. Really, don't mention it. I mean it. Don't ever mention it again to anyone, or else. Got it?"

It came out a bit more threatening than Ryuk intended; Rem looked slightly taken aback…

"I didn't mean…look, you're always saying you don't know why you saved me, and now I don't know why I saved you. We've both saved each other's life once…let's just call it even and forget about it, okay?"

"All right." Rem winced after she finished talking, and put a hand to her cheek.

Ryuk looked up at his somewhat healed wing, then back at the fresh bandage on Rem's face. "You know," he said, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say they were trying to bring us back to the shinigami realm one grain at a time."

It took a few seconds for Rem's face to crack a smile…it took longer than a few seconds for Ryuk to realize that the sounds coming out of Rem's mouth were giggles.

Ryuk started laughing along with her. "Well, well! You actually can laugh…I never would've guessed. So it's black humour that does it for you, huh?"

More laughter, as Rem looked at him both exasperated and amused…there was yet another odd thing about her. Instead of the harsh, braying barks he'd heard from most shinigami, her laughter was oddly musical.

"Don't overdo it now, Rem. If this is the first time you've used those muscles, you might sprain something."

"Oh, be quiet…"

---

It wasn't until Daril got back to the theatre that she noticed the slash on her wrist, because by then she wasn't in fight or flight mode, and it was starting to hurt. She supposed she must've got it when the knife flew out of Kinddara's hand…how she hadn't noticed before that she hadn't completely dodged it, she didn't know. It was the strangest and most unpleasant sensation she'd ever felt, and it made her a little bit ill, watching sand drip out from inside her arm…she didn't know what the silvery stuff on the wall was, but it had been on Ryuk's wing before. She tore a strip of it off and stuck it to her own wrist. It did nothing for the pain, but it stopped the sand coming out. Useful stuff…kind of pretty, too, with its shiny shade of grey. She'd have to figure out where to find it in the human world, after they found out where the hell Sidoh went. He might need it after she caught up with him.

"Why ain't we just flying out the wall?" Kinddara said as Daril went through the emergency exit of the theatre.

"If the silver stuff stuck to the wall when Ryuk went through it, it'll stick to the wall if I go through it. Sidoh ran off this way. Follow me."

As they flew, scanning the ground for Sidoh, Daril said, "Kinddara…you still haven't told me where you got that knife."

Kinddara grunted. "Took it offa Sidoh."

"You stole it from him?"

"Naw, I just told him I'd eat his guts if he didn't hand it over."

Daril wanted to explode; to scream at Kinddara with all the fury she felt at everything that was going on, but she forced herself to stay silent. If she let herself go now, she wouldn't be able to get herself back, and that wouldn't do when they finally found Sidoh. As much as she wanted to punch his face in, the King had said that she needed to keep the team motivated and moving forward, and taking it out on Sidoh would only destroy the fragile sliver of confidence she'd managed to build up in him. She had to take her own advice here, the one she had to tell Kinddara several times a day-control yourself. Funny how that worked, really-just when Kinddara started proving useful, Sidoh ran away in the middle of a fight. Either one behaved, or the other did…she just couldn't have it both ways, could she?

She spotted Sidoh down below, huddled on the sidewalk beneath the awning of a building. When she landed in front of him, her exasperation only grew as she saw how much he was trembling and the wide-eyed look of terror on his face.

Daril snatched the knife out of Kinddara's hand, paying no attention to the enraged snarl that resulted.

"Don't let her take stuff from you!" she shouted as she shoved the knife back into Sidoh's hands. Sidoh recoiled, whimpering as he clutched the knife that had been forced into his grasp.

Too much-Daril wasn't as in control of herself as she'd thought. Control…control…she tried to force her infuriation to the back of her mind.

"You ran away in the middle of a fight. Why?" she asked, quieter, calmer.

"Didn't you see!? It was a ghost! Ryuk came back from the dead and attacked Kinddara! His _ghost_!!"

"That wasn't a ghost, you…!" Daril started to raise her voice, but stopped, closed her eyes, took a deep breath in, let it out, breathed in again…Sidoh couldn't help but wonder what she'd been about to call him.

She opened her eyes. "There's no such thing as ghosts, Sidoh. Ryuk was alive the whole time. Rem lied."

Oh…that made sense…well, now Sidoh just felt silly.

Daril seemed much calmer now… she wasn't angry anymore, but Sidoh thought the disappointment in her voice was even worse.

"We could have used your help back there, Sidoh. They got away, and I…"-Daril held up her wrist-"got hurt. This is what I was talking about when I said you needed more confidence. When we catch up to Ryuk and Rem, we need your help to bring them in. You won't let us down next time, right?"

Sidoh wanted to say something, to apologize; but he couldn't think of a good way to say it. That was when he heard flapping above him; he looked up and saw a winged figure coming towards them. Daril and Kinddara couldn't see or hear it yet, but they did look in the direction Sidoh was suddenly staring with great interest, where a shinigami gradually appeared and landed on a lamp post above them.

"About damn time…" it grumbled. "Do you have any idea how long it took me to find you?"

"Deridovely?" said Sidoh.

"What are you doing here?" Daril asked.

"I'm supposed to tell you some stuff the old geezer wants you to know."


	19. Glow

"The old man's been watching you with a viewing hole pretty much since you left."

"So that's how you knew approximately where to find us…," said Daril.

"Yeah, but let's get to the point so I can get outta here. After the old geezer sent us all to find Justin and the rest of them, a whole lotta shinigami chickened out and ran away down into the human world," Deridovely continued to explain as they flew toward the place Ryuk and Rem had disappeared. "So he wants me to give you these." He handed Daril several chains with semicircles on each end. "He called them shackles. If you find some shinigami other than Ryuk or Rem who've run away down here, he wants you to chain them up to something and put one of these on them." He handed her several small black boxes, each with a red button in the centre. "You push the button, and it sends out a signal to something the old geezer has up in his tower that tells him where in the human world the box is. He'll send someone down to collect whoever you catch, so you can get back to tracking down Ryuk and Rem right away, without bothering to drag them back up to our realm."

Daril tucked away the black boxes and shackles, except for a few that wouldn't fit, which she hung from her belt.

"I've been thinking," she said. "The King can see the human world from our realm, and that's how he knew where to send you…he's been watching us through a viewing hole. If he were to search for Ryuk and Rem using a hole, he could tell us where they are with some sort of machine that we could use to talk to him …"

"He's already got Ryuk and Rem on a viewing hole," said Deridovely. "You were about a hundred miles north of them when I left to come here…but that's kind of useless, I guess, now that you've already caught up to them and lost them again. He overheard you talking about that earlier, actually, and he said to tell you it's a great idea, and he's working on it. But he says it took him hundreds of years to figure out how to send a one-way signal from this realm to ours, so don't expect a two-way signal to turn up overnight."

"So do we get to kill them? The other ones in the human world?"

"NO, Kinddara. Am I right?"

"Uh…" said Deridovely, "actually…he didn't say anything about that…"

"So then we can kill em!"

"KINDARRA! Will you stop with that already? I'm only going to tell you one more time-the _king_ kills other shinigami if they need to be killed!"

"But you was gonna let me kill Rem."

"No, I wasn't. I was just trying to scare the truth out of her. It's called bluffing. You are not killing anyone, understand?"

Kinddara's hand strayed toward her back; her face went sour as she realized she didn't have a knife. She looked over at Sidoh…more specifically; she looked at the knife he was holding…

"Don't even think about it."

Another snarl, but Daril paid no attention; Kinddara did that so much, she was starting not to notice.

"The tunnel's under here," she said as she landed in the foundation of a building that the construction crew had abandoned for the night. "I can't go down because of my wrist, though. Sidoh-see if you can spot anything in there. Take Kinddara and Deridovely with you."

"What? Why me?" Deridovely complained.

"A spare pair of eyes couldn't hurt. Keep them in line, all right, Sidoh?"

"Uh…okay…?"

The three shinigami dropped through the ground and into the tunnel. It was made of grey concrete, lit up by small lights all in rows. Sidoh walked up and down, looking for anything that looked like it was caused by a shinigami, while Kinddara and Deridovely watched. Suddenly, he stopped and stood perfectly still, staring down the tunnel.

"He found something," Kinddara mumbled.

"How can you tell?"

"He always stares like that when he's found something…"

Sidoh's eyes were wide and gleaming; he wasn't moving a muscle.

"Hear that?" he asked.

"No…" Deridovely and Kinddara said at the same time.

"It's kind of…it's kind of a…I dunno, like…a…it's like a rushing sound, I guess…"

"Huh?" said Deridovely. "Have you been eating too much chocolate or something?"

But now he heard it, too. It was slowly getting louder…then it got suddenly got really loud when a huge wall of light barrelled into them, followed by a huge chunk of metal. All three shinigami screamed as it hit them before they had the chance to dematerialize.

Sidoh opened his eyes; he'd closed them when thing had hit-he was instantly relieved when he did. He hadn't had time to consciously dematerialize, but apparently he'd done it instinctively, because now he was standing chest-deep in the floor of rooms that kept rolling by, filled with humans sitting down, and standing up holding onto poles. Kinddara's head was poking out of the floor too, but Deridovely was nowhere to be seen. It only took a few seconds for the thing to roll over him and go shooting down the tunnel and out of sight.

"Holy Hell!" Deridovely squeaked as he got back up, after falling down when the thing had arrived. "What kind of shit are you guys putting me up to? That's it! I'm going back to the shinigami realm!"

"What happened? Are you guys okay?" Daril shouted, her voice only faintly audible to Sidoh through the thick ceiling of dirt. Sidoh flapped back up through the ceiling and hovered half out of the ground so he could speak clearly with Daril.

"We're fine," he said. "This really long huge thing full of humans just went past. It kinda surprised us, is all…"

"I heard it go by…it only took a couple of seconds. How fast was it going? Faster than a shinigami could fly?"

"Uh…I think I could keep up to it. But why would we need to follow it?"

"Let me rephrase that question. Faster than Ryuk and Rem could fly?"

"Uh…maybe. I guess. Yeah...yeah, it was probably faster than them. Definitely."

Daril had never looked more excited. "Find out where that tunnel goes, okay? I want you to check out every inch of it, and if you find a way out, come get me so I can help you search. Nice to see you're getting back on track. Keep up the good work."

Deridovely burst out of the ground and shot off into the sky without a glance back.

"What about him?"

"Whatever. We don't need guys who run away after one little scare."

Sidoh flinched. "Sorry."

"What are you sorry for? You didn't run away, just now."

"Didn't…hey, yeah, I didn't!" Sidoh grinned.

"Atta boy. I knew you had it in you. Now go search the tunnel."

"Yes, sir! I mean…ma'am? Er, um…captain?"

"Just go already."

---

"You look like you're in pain. Is it your wing?" asked Rem as they flew toward the next human city-it looked much smaller than the last; more of a town, really.

"Yeah, it hurts a bit. It's not a hundred percent better yet."

Ryuk's grin looked awfully forced. Somehow, Rem knew that his wing was hurting him more than just "a bit".

"I can carry you again, if it's bothering you."

Ryuk snickered; his grin went from forced to genuinely amused. "Hell if I'm gonna make you cart me around again," he said.

Rem smiled back at him. "Have it you way."

They flew on to the limits of the town; the streetlights were just starting to turn off as the sun was coming up.

"…That's a pretty sort of pink, right there around the sun," she said.

"Yup."

A moment or two passed as Rem looked at where the sun was rising over the horizon. She hadn't watched a sunrise until now; when she'd been in Tokyo with Misa, buildings had blocked out the horizon every morning, and usually, by the time Misa was done getting ready for the day, the sun was already fully up. Rem had loved Misa like a daughter, but it hadn't stopped her from seeing the rest of humanity. Humans were ugly creatures, no doubt about it…but their world was breathtakingly beautiful. The shinigami realm was full of grays and blacks; but the pinks and reds that melted into the deep blues and purples in this sky…Rem had no idea why something as simple as a few colours could move her this much, but she liked it.

"That's why I like this realm. It's really _alive_, isn't it?" said Ryuk.

"Yes."

Eventually, they floated down onto the streets of the town below them.

"I'm going in for an apple," said Ryuk as he headed for yet another grocery store. Rem stood waiting. There were no skyscrapers to block her view; just small houses, single-floored businesses…even the grocery store they were at looked to be a small, locally owned one as opposed to a large chain store. There was no other way to describe it, looking up…it felt like something inside her was glowing, right next to the part of her that had died when she'd heard of Misa's death…the pain was very real, but given the choice, Rem still would've chosen to feel it. It only hurt this much because the thing she was grieving for had been so beautiful, and she'd been lucky to know it, even if it inevitably had to be taken away. One day, she'd be able to think of Misa and smile. After all, she'd had a few years with Light Yagami; Rem had succeeded in making her happy for a while before she'd met her end.

Rem heard a door creak open; a bell chimed, and she looked to where the sound had come from. Ryuk was holding the door of the grocery store open.

"It wasn't an automatic door or anything. I just had to turn this knob to unlock it. You should come in and find something to eat. You're hurt too, you know."

It hadn't occurred to Rem until now that she should eat something, but now that she thought of it, he was probably right. She followed Ryuk back into the grocery store, looking at all the shelves and the dozens of things on them…Rem hadn't eaten in a long time. Once she'd simply stopped getting hungry all those years ago, she'd stopped eating completely, because frankly, food didn't appeal to her all that much. The ridiculous amount of food piled up on the shelves was no exception.

Ryuk seemed to notice that she was at a loss. "Here," he said, grabbing a bag off a nearby shelf. "Try this. It tastes kind of like a shenzu nut if you use your imagination."

Black Liquorice…Rem tore the bag open and took a bite out of one of the strands. Yes, it did taste a bit like a shenzu nut, if you coated it in plastic and added a ridiculous amount of sugar after letting it sit outside the pod for a few weeks. Oh, well. It wasn't great, but it wasn't bad, either. It was as good as anything else she'd find in the human world, she supposed.

The two shinigami sat and watched as the town started to come alive. There were only a few vague wisps of darkness in the sky now, and a few cars rolled up and down the street. Humans with dogs and without jogged past sporadically, their breath puffing out as miniature clouds in the cold air as Ryuk savoured an apple and Rem chewed the liquorice without really paying attention to it.

"You know, now that you can fly on your own, you don't have to feel obligated to stay with me."

"I know. Don't care. You're the one with all the getaway plans, so I'm sticking with you."

"Being around me only puts you in danger. The King wants me captured, and he'll keep trying for as long as it takes."

Ryuk shrugged. "He's pissed at me, too. Why? You don't want me around?"

"…I don't mind."

The streets were getting busier now that the sun was fully up.

"I wonder if the hunters have found our trail yet. It worries me, how they found us despite my efforts to leave as few traces as possible…"

"Don't bother worrying," said Ryuk. "That won't do anything to change whether they've found something or not. Go ahead and think about how to get away if they catch up, but don't worry about it-that'll just stress you out. So, how do you figure Justin's doing? We kinda have no way of finding out, and it's been a few months…"

"Hopefully he's doing better than we are."

"Come on, don't talk like that. We're alive; mostly in once piece…we're doing okay."

"…I suppose."

Now Rem was wondering…just what had the King and Justin done up in the shinigami realm in their absence, over the past months…?


	20. Moles

A few months ago, Gukku would've never willingly moved fistful after fistful of dirt into a bucket beside him, just to go dump it out and come back to do some more, but here he was, digging in this nearly pitch-black, tiny little tunnel filled with grey clouds from the dust he was stirring up. At first, when Justin had said that they'd need to expand the tunnel network, Gukku had thought about ways to get out of digging.

"If we're going to succeed, we need to know what the King is doing, and we need to have a way to move around the realm unnoticed," Justin had said. "In order for that to happen, we need to make about eight more tunnels. Here's the deal. No one has to dig a tunnel if they don't want to, and those who dig can do as little or as much as they want. At the end of every week, everyone who participated in digging gets one of these…"

Several shinigami gasped when Justin held up a bag of candy-miniature chocolate bars, to be specific.

"…and the shinigami who moves the most earth gets three. Sound fair?"

"Where did you get those, Justin?" Zellogi had asked.

"Once I heard of the King's plans, I figured I'd have to go into hiding eventually, so I went down into the human world and brought back enough cigarettes to tide myself over for a few years. I saw these while I was down there, and had a feeling they'd come in handy. In addition to the cigarettes, I've got enough candy to supply everyone who digs for quite a few years."

After a few weeks, Gukku had caved in and started digging. It was sort of because he wanted a share in the candy and hadn't been able to find where Justin had hidden it (those tunnels were, like, crazy maze-like), but mostly…well, he didn't have anything else to do. He would've gone crazy, just sitting there staring at the walls. If Deridovely were here, it probably would've been more bearable; they'd play games like usual, maybe gambling for stolen candy if they managed to find it between the two of them. But, like it or not, Deridovely wasn't here, and Gukku had gotten sick of sitting around wishing he was.

Footsteps crunched in the grit of the tunnel floor behind him, and the tunnel suddenly glowed with green, neon lantern-light.

"Hey, Justin," said Gukku, not bothering to turn around.

"Hello. I'm here to check the direction of the tunnel."

"Sure. Go ahead."

When the digging had begun, Justin had borrowed a scythe from one of the other shinigami, and now he poked the handle of the scythe up through the roof of the tunnel, making a tiny hole that reached the surface. He put down the scythe and put something else up through the hole it had made.

"What's that?" Gukku asked.

"A periscope. I have to have some way of telling what's above us if I'm going to tell you which direction to dig."

"Where'd you get it?"

"I made it out of a few empty cigarette boxes and two reflective surfaces."

Justin looked into the tube while Gukku read what was written on it…stuff like "cigarettes contain formaldehyde" and "smoking causes lung cancer."

Justin didn't look into the tube for long. He pulled it back out, and cursed as he shook a handful of sand out of it.

"Not again! I _hate _it when that happens." Justin pulled out a sharp-looking metallic rock, reluctance plastered all over his face. "You might want to look away," he said.

Gukku couldn't help but wonder what Justin was going to do with the rock…no, he wouldn't do that…that was just crazy. He turned around and went back to digging. There was a sharp intake of breath and a grunt of effort behind him, but that was about it…no screaming or anything.

"Whaddya doing, Justin?" he asked, turning around to see Justin fitting a jewel into each end of the periscope. Two circular marks on his arm were oozing sand…whoa. He _had_ done it.

"Holy Crap, Justin! What did you do that for?!"

"Like I said, I have to have some way of telling what's above us; that requires a periscope, a periscope requires two reflective surfaces to work, and the only damned thing in these tunnels that has any sort of reflective properties is…well, me. Trust me, I've looked everywhere."

"Doesn't that hurt? That can't be fun…"

"Yes, it hurts. I don't enjoy it in the slightest."

Justin stuck the repaired periscope back up the hole he'd made, took a look around, and brought it back down.

"So, do I need to change direction?" Gukku asked.

"Yes, you need to head that way for a while," Justin said as he pointed a bit further to the right.

"Where is this tunnel going, anyway?"

"It will lead into that giant hollow rock with the ledge that looks out onto the King's tower and the surrounding area. Depending on what we can observe from there, it may eventually branch off and lead into the tower itself."

"…Are you serious?"

"Don't worry. We have a long way to go before that happens."

"Uh…okay. By the way…who's winning?"

"Vechello's moved a bit more dirt than you this week, but you're catching up. Keep going."

With that, Justin went off to go look at someone else's tunnel. Gukku grumbled as he went back to digging …stupid overachieving fours. He was always 'catching up', but they just had to stay one bucket ahead of him, didn't they? Well…it could be worse. At least he wasn't doing what Zellogi and Midora were doing…he shuddered at the thought of it, wondered how they were doing…if they were even still alive…

---

Zellogi and Midora were about halfway between the underground tunnels' exit and the King's tower. It was unnerving, flying completely exposed through the open air.

"How ya feelin', Mimi? Still up for this?"

"Dammit, Zellogi, call me 'Mimi' one more time and you're going to regret it."

"Whaddya think the old man's gonna do when we get to him? Think he's gonna hear us out, or is he just gonna kill us on sight?"

"Dunno. Hope not."

"So, why'd you decide to turn spy?"

"I had to get out of those damn tunnels. They're hot and dry as hell…doesn't really matter if the King's going to kill me if I felt like killing myself anyway. What about you?"

"I dunno. I was bored, I guess."

"You're going to go spy on the King and risk torture and death, just because you're bored? Yeah, right. First you break into the tower; now this…it's true, what everyone says about you. Admit it-you just have a taste for danger."

"…I never thought of it before, but I guess so. You've got me pegged, Mimi."

"Why do you keep calling me that!?"

Zellogi's grin was bordering on impish. "Because it bugs you."

"That proves it. You really do have a taste for danger."

"Hey, you two! Stop!" A pack of about seven shinigami was flying towards them.

"Here goes. Ready, Mimi?"

"Of course, you ass."

The pack of shinigami chained them up without so much as a 'hey, you're with Justin, aren't you?' and started flying them toward the King's tower. Nervousness started to creep into Zellogi's stomach…he squished it down into a little ball and thought back to what Justin had said, concentrating on what he had to do.

Justin had asked him and Midora to act as spies, because he needed to know what was going on with the King and his forces. "Understand that it will be dangerous," he'd said. "If you don't want to do this, or are too afraid, I won't force you. If you're going to be effective spies, you need to do it willingly, or the King will be able to break your cover with no effort at all. I'm asking you two because I've been observing every shinigami in this realm for centuries and writing reports on them so the King could give them ranks someday, and I know for a fact that you two have the acting skills and emotional fortitude to pull this off."

"Wouldn't it make more sense to ask Nu to do it? She's always popping up when you least expect it; she'd probably be good at the spy thing," said Zellogi.

"You're right. Nu would make an excellent spy. Unfortunately, she disappeared again when Ryuk and Rem took off, and I haven't seen her since. You two are perfectly capable. Will you do it?"

"I'll do it," Midora had said the instant Justin stopped talking.

"Sure," Zellogi had agreed.

"I'm sorry that you have to do this. I'd go myself, but seeing as how the King would most likely execute me on sight, that's not a valid option. You two might stand a chance, if you do exactly as I say…"

The King's tower came into sight. Zellogi knew what he had to do. Justin's parting words echoed through his head as they touched down in front of the giant golden figure on the tower's front.

"If I can trust anyone with this job, it's you two. Good luck, and come back alive."

One of the shinigami spoke up. "Great King! We found some of Justin's supporters!"

The innermost face of the oversized medallion started to speak.

"What do you have to say for yourselves before I execute you for treason?"

"Great King…please, accept our humblest apologies. We came back into the open again to rejoin you, and to beg your forgiveness."

So that was why Justin suggested Zellogi do all the talking…well, maybe Midora shouldn't be that surprised. He was a five, after all. It made sense that he could talk in formal, grammatically perfect speech, even if he never bothered to use it in everyday conversation.

"We followed Justin out of fear when we heard the rumours, and we feel the deepest shame because of it. Once we heard the truth about Rem despite Justin's best efforts to keep it from us, and that he intended to kill you instead of merely dethroning you, we realized that he was using us to further his quest for power. We realized, over the months that we spent away from you, how foolish we were to ever doubt you. That is why we left Justin's hideout and flew through the open, knowing the risks we faced of capture and punishment. If it is within your good judgement that we must be killed, we will graciously accept our fate, but we wish to atone for what we've done. Please-if you can give us the forgiveness of which we are so unworthy, we will do everything we can to help you stop Justin once and for all."

The golden medallion on the tower couldn't really change expressions, and they couldn't read anything in the voice coming from it either.

"Everything you can?" it said.

"You have my word, most great King."

"Mine, too," said Midora. "What he said. Every word of it."

"In that case, I assume you were in Justin's headquarters for quite some time, and therefore, you know exactly where it is. Are you willing to show the rest of my loyal ones to his hideout?"

"Absolutely, O Great One," said Zellogi.


	21. Mortality

Several shinigami followed Justin as he flew through the tunnels. He stopped at another bar-shaped handle poking out of a circle of metal in the tunnel ceiling, and gave it a twist. He gently eased the handle and the disk attached to it down and out of the ceiling, along with a layer of rock and gravel on top of it.

"Found one!" said Justin. On top of the stack of rock was a single crumpled sheet of paper. He replaced the column of rock and twisted the disk back into place, then unfurled the paper a bit and looked at the writing on it. "This is Midora's writing. They're alive!"

Variations of "Read it, Justin!" and "What does it say?" came from the crowd following him.

Justin smoothed out the crumpled paper.

"_Dear Death Note,"_ he read. "_I can't believe I just wrote that… I'm seriously going to do a "dear death note"? That trend died about a hundred years ago, writing in your death note like it's a diary or something. I don't really know why I'm doing it. Maybe it's because I have something exciting to write about, or maybe 'cause a lot of scary shit is going on right now, and it kinda takes the edge off, writing down feelings and stuff… geez, I sound like a freaking human girl. Whatever. So, me and Zellogi got out of Justin's hideout and went to beg the Old Geezer for forgiveness. Zellogi was right; butter him up a bit and he'll listen to anything you have to say. We led all the King's supporters to that cave near my swamp, but guess freaking what? Everyone was gone! I guess Justin must've realized we were missing, so he probably moved headquarters. At least, that's what Zellogi told the King must've happened. It took a lot more ass-kissing, but the Old Geezer finally believed him_. _Zellogi's a total asshat, but he sure can do the 'talking pretty' thing when he needs to._"

"Excellent," said Justin, breaking off from reading the note. "Bringing them to a false hideout worked…anyway, continuing on…"

"_So now, we're part of the King's forces, but we have to gain his trust back a bit, so we can't have any weapons and we're not allowed to go to the human world. Not like I'd want to go to the human world, anyway, since that's where the hunters are. Even the guys on our side are afraid of them. They've caught about eight shinigami now, and when they get brought back, they're brought into the tower and no one sees them ever again. It's seriously creepy…shinigami are afraid to say Daril's name these days. She's just "the huntress," and Sidoh is just "the eyes"-and don't even try to talk about Kinddara, or everyone will kind of back away from you like you're contaminated or something. They haven't caught Ryuk or Rem yet, though. I hope they don't…they're supposed to bring those two back themselves, and the farther the hunters are from me, the better, in my opinion. Well, technically we're supposed to call them 'the trackers', but once you're out of the King's earshot, everyone calls them the hunters. So right now, Zellogi and me are part of the group that wanders around the shinigami realm looking for Justin's new hideout. That's what everyone does, mostly, other than the bunch the old man lost when they ran away to the human world, and the guys who have to go get them when they're caught by the hunters, or guard the entrance the human world so no one else runs away. I don't know how many are down in the human world-between fifty and a hundred, I guess. And I thought it was bad when the realm was just boring-now it's going to hell in a hand basket. It's freaking scary. _

_This really is stupid, isn't it? What kind of loser still uses her death note as a diary? I'd never hear the end of it if someone looked through my death note and found this. I'm probably going to have to get rid of it. This is getting torn straight out of my death note and hidden under a rock. _

_You can probably tell who I am if you find this and read it, but I'm still not signing my name. Deal with it_."

Justin sighed with relief. "It worked…they're all right…"

"Huh?" said Gukku. "What the hell was that supposed to be?"

"Zellogi and Midora are telling us what the King's up to by pretending to write 'dear death notes', like we did back in the 1800s," said Justin. "It gives them a non-incriminating reason for writing down what's going on, as well as a valid reason for hiding pages under rocks. Nobody would want to admit they're still using their death note as a diary. Best of all, no one can prove that the notes are actually messages to us, even if they take one and read it to the King himself."

The crowd around Justin had grown as he'd read the note; all the gathered shinigami were starting some whispered conversations…

"Sorry to break up the fun, folks, but we need to get back to digging. The sooner we finish the tunnels, the sooner we can start interfering with the King's plans directly, and the sooner we can bring him down. The King isn't stupid, plans aren't foolproof no matter how good they are, and a good plan isn't worth much if Zellogi and Midora's luck runs out. I want to get them out of there and back with us as soon as possible."

---

Zellogi and Midora had split up, and Zellogi was sitting in the old grove of apple trees where Ryuk used to get his fixes in between human world visits, scribbling in his death note. It was only a grove in the literal sense of the word; there was nothing abundant or plentiful about the gnarled sticks that jabbed out of the ground and squeezed off a dry, grainy farce of an apple every once in a blue moon. Zellogi finished his note, tore it out, and lifted up a rock…not just any rock, though. Although you couldn't tell by looking, it was right above a tunnel, and Justin would be able to get the paper Zellogi stuck under it by pulling the ground out from under the rock. As Zellogi put the rock back into place, he felt a pair of eyes on him. He looked over his shoulder and saw Deridovely standing there.

"Whaddya doing?" Deridovely asked.

"Nothing much. Just taking a break, then I'm on my way again. Go ahead and keep searching," Zellogi replied.

Deridovely didn't move. "Hey, Zellogi…?"

"What?"

"Uh…when you were with Justin and them…Gukku was with you, right?"

"Yeah."

"…How's he doing? I mean…is he okay?"

"Yeah. He's fine."

"…Good. If he'd gone down into the human world…"

"We should probably get back to searching."

"…I guess so," Deridovely grumbled. "So why'd you switch sides?"

"Hey, man, it's like you said. Going against the King only gets you killed."

Deridovely turned away and started walking. "Don't remind me," he muttered. Zellogi was pretty sure Deridovely hadn't meant for him to hear it, but he heard it anyway. "That poor guy…"

"What guy?"

"Huh? Oh, the eighth guy the hunters caught…"

"I thought they only caught six."

"No, it's eight now…at least, it was…"

---

"Guard this one," Daril said to Kinddara as she chained a shinigami to a tree and dashed off after the one that had gotten away. They'd caught about six shinigami so far, but those ones had been on their own; bringing in two at once was going to be a challenge. The shinigami was flapping for his life, over the lines of bushes he'd been eating blueberries off of just minutes ago. He was no match for Daril, though-no more than a seagull was a match for a hawk, in terms of speed or ferocity. She swooped down and knocked him out of the sky, landing on him after he hit the ground.

"Got you…Calikarcha?" said Daril, finally getting a good look at his face.

"Daril! Please! You can't let them take me! He'll kill me!" Calikarcha bawled.

"Calikarcha…"

"I thought we were friends, Daril! We used to hang out together, you and me and Thruk and Vechello! You can't do this! Please!"

"Calm down. It's okay," she said, getting off him and pulling him to his feet.

"Are…are you letting me go?" he said.

Daril snapped one end of a shackle to his wrist. "Sorry, Cal. King's orders. It's not like I have a choice."

Calikarcha bolted; to Daril's surprise, the other end of the shackle was yanked out of her hand, and he ran away into the trees, his screams getting fainter…

Then they started getting louder again…Daril grabbed the other end of the shackle as Calikarcha ran past her, being chased by…

"Sidoh!"

"Hi, Daril!"

"What are you doing here? I thought you were following Ryuk and Rem's prints while we took care of these two!" Daril said as she wrapped the shackle around a tree and snapped the other end to Calikarcha's other wrist.

"Yeah, turns out they led to this orchard, the part with the apple trees; but then this guy came along, so..."

"Sidoh…you…chased him back here, all by yourself?"

"Yep."

Daril was shocked speechless for a moment or two.

"Daril? Are you okay? …Did I do something wrong?"

"Sidoh…you did _great_," she said, beaming at him. "I have never been more proud of you than I am now. You're turning into a real tracker."

"Well, watching you those last six times kinda helped," said Sidoh. He wondered why it felt like he had too much air in his lungs, but in a good way.

"Daril! Please! I don't wanna die! Don't make me go back to him! Please! How can you do this to me?" Calikarcha wailed.

Daril turned to face him again. "I'm sorry, Cal. I mean it. I wouldn't do this if I had a choice, but the King is watching me right now with a viewing hole, and orders are orders."

Calikarcha was breathing funny. "I don't wanna die…please, please, I don't wanna die…"

"You're not going to die, Calikarcha. All you did was stay in the human world longer than 82 hours without giving a human a death note. That's only a level eight punishment, if the King even decides to bother with it. You'll be fine."

"But, Daril! That human I…"

"_All you did was stay in the human world too long_," Daril said, cutting him off. Was that a hint of panic in her voice, Sidoh wondered? "Nothing more. Right?"

Calikarcha looked confused. Daril winked.

"Yeah…you're right. That's all I did," said Calikarcha, catching on. Daril took out one of the black boxes, hung it from Calikarcha's chain, and pressed the red button.

"Someone's going to come and take you back to the shinigami realm. I'll be heading back there myself once we catch Ryuk and Rem, okay? Say hi to Thruk and Vechello for me, and tell them I'll see them soon. Come on, Sidoh."

Sidoh followed Daril back through the fruit orchard. In the months that had gone by, and as they'd tracked Ryuk and Rem closer to the equator, the human world had gotten a lot warmer, and a lot more colourful. Well, the places without a lot of humans did, anyway; cities tended to be mostly grey no matter how warm or cold it got. Even in the dark, this orchard had a lot of green in it, and the fruits were something else with all those really bright colors Sidoh didn't know the names of. They smelled really sweet too…it kind of filled the air in a syrupy way. Sidoh wondered if fruit tasted as good as chocolate. Ryuk liked fruit an awful lot…he paused for a minute…

"Put that down, Sidoh. We don't need you getting hooked on fruit and twisting up whenever…," Daril trailed off.

Sidoh had just finished plucking the peach off its tree, but he dropped it anyway, just as he was told. It hit the ground with a juicy 'splat.' Sidoh turned to look in the same direction as Daril, and fell right down after the peach when he saw the scene that had stuck Daril speechless. Sidoh opened his mouth to scream, but nothing came out.

A chain bordered the roots of another peach tree, and a pile of wet sand lay before its empty shackles. Kinddara was using her hands to pile the sand up…she was making a sand castle, Daril realized with a horrible churning feeling in her stomach. A knife, caked with sand, lay abandoned by Kinddara's feet.

"Kinddara…how…knife…" Daril choked out.

Kinddara glanced up, only noticing them just now.

"Stole it off that Dovely guy when he wasn't lookin." Kinddara turned back to her sand castle, humming as she drew a little moat around it.


	22. Written

"Ryuk?"

Rem had been waiting outside the massive store with the sun beating down on her for nearly ten minutes, and she was starting to worry. She tore the duct tape off her cheek-it didn't seem to be bleeding anymore- and threw it away as she walked off the searing concrete and through the wall into the air-conditioned 'Wal-Mart'. The apple display was right in front of her, but there was no sign of Ryuk. She walked up, down and through the aisles, but she didn't see Ryuk anywhere in the grocery section, and he would be hard to miss, towering over the humans and incredibly black in comparison to the stark whiteness of the walls, ceiling, and floors …

"Ryuk? Ryuk?!" she called, but there was no answer, other than the continued muttering of humans about the freshness of eggs and the price of spaghetti sauce. A small knot of apprehension formed in Rem's stomach as she ran out of the grocery section…still no sign of him. Rem's wings shot out, and she flew around the store, scanning as she went…these 'Wal-Marts' were huge, and he could be anywhere inside it…at least, she hoped he was still inside it. Rem knew she couldn't panic now…she had to keep a clear head if she was going to find him…if she were Ryuk, where would she have gone…? Frantically, she looked around as she flew, calling for Ryuk over the dull roar the humans were making...aha.

Rem flew into the electronics section, where several large-screen televisions were set up all over, blasting out sound, and in front of one of them, Ryuk sat laughing hysterically as a muscular man wearing tights hit another muscular man in tights with a chair, before climbing up onto the ropes bordering a square stage and jumping on him.

"Ryuk!"

"Huh? Oh, hey, Rem."

"What are you doing here?"

"…I'm watching…WWE, apparently," Ryuk said as a commercial came on.

Rem sighed with a mixture of relief and frustration.

"Don't _do_ that!" she said.

"Geez, Rem! Why can't I watch a little TV while I eat my apples?"

"It's not the TV; it's you disappearing that I object to!"

"Oh, come on. I was only gone for ten minutes."

"Ten minutes is more than enough time for the hunters to catch you. If you're going to wander off, at least tell me beforehand so I don't have to make myself sick wondering where you are!"

"Sure, ruin my fun," Ryuk said with a good-natured chuckle. He swallowed the last of his apple as he got up. "Can I at least watch the end of this? The announcer said that the 'thrilling conclusion' will be on right after this last commercial break."

"All right."

"Wow, you agreed really easily this time."

"I've learned the routine by now. I can either say no and listen to you beg, plead and wheedle until the program is over anyway, or I can not bother and just let you watch."

"Oh…okay. Thanks."

The two shinigami stood and watched as the commercial ended, and the wrestlers came back on and continued to beat each other up. There weren't any discernable rules; so far as Rem could make out…she still didn't understand what was going on, even as it ended.

"Why did the one in blue win?" she asked.

"Pinfall," said Ryuk as soon as he was able to stop laughing. "It's been a while…humans are the same as ever. Okay, I can tell you want to get moving. Let's go."

Ryuk followed Rem out of the Wal-Mart, and they both took to the air.

"So, where are you taking us this time?" said Ryuk.

"I don't know, Ryuk. I'm not even sure where we are now. All that matters is that we keep moving."

"Really? You have no idea?"

"Well, I know we're not in Japan. It's taking far too long to move from one side of this land mass to the other for that, most of the people are speaking English, and I know that the entrance to the human world tends to move. Other than that…it's hard to tell, looking at the human world while you're in it as opposed to looking down from a viewing hole…at least you can zoom out that way, and see the general shape of the land mass."

"Well, according to that sign we just flew over, we're in San Bernardino…that's somewhere in North America, isn't it?"

Rem's eyebrows seemed to go up underneath the bandage on her forehead.

"What?" Ryuk asked.

"I almost forgot…that one time, when you wrote down fake rules in Light Yagami's notebook…you can read and write English…"

"…Yeah. So?"

"Most shinigami only have a grasp of human languages to the extent that they can recognize characters in human names…not many can actually understand the humans' written language, much less write it themselves."

Ryuk shrugged. "It was something to do-you can only play so many games of death's heads before it starts to get dull. It's kind of interesting, knowing some human code."

"That's quite an accomplishment…your friends must be jealous."

"They don't know I can do that, but they probably wouldn't care if they did. Actually, they'd probably make fun of me if they knew…"

"They shouldn't. It's not easy."

"Whatever, Rem. I bet you can do it."

"No. I can read a few simple English words, and sound out others, but I can't write it with any proficiency. I'm much better with the spoken languages. They're much easier to learn through watching humans than written ones, and until about a century ago, most humans weren't literate in their own languages in the first place. My friends and I used to watch humans all the time…we never really got the appeal of gambling, and there wasn't much else to do in the realm…"

"Who are your friends, anyway?"

"…Gelus was the last one. About two hundred years ago, it started to be that I'd go to see someone, only to find their abandoned death note down in the human world or in front of a viewing hole… I had no idea what was going on, but once I saw what happened to Gelus when he helped Misa, I figured it out from there. Is it just English you can read and write?"

"…Uh…no," said Ryuk, looking strangely embarrassed, and avoiding her gaze. "Like you said, there wasn't much else to do in the shinigami realm…I…I picked up a few more."

"How many do you know?"

"Look, I know it's weird. You don't have to rub it in."

"I'm not rubbing anything in. How many do you know?"

"…not that many. Just the ones that caught my eye, where some interesting stuff was going on…French, when that twenty-first Louis guy pissed a bunch of people off so they started beheading each other, and German when that Hitler guy tried to take over the world…and I picked up Japanese really quickly when I decided to actually go down to the human world instead of just watching…you know, while I was possessing Light. Really, it's not that many, and I only did it because gambling for decades on end gets dull…I know it sounds weird and obsessive, but…"

"Not at all. It's actually quite impressive. I'm surprised you don't have a higher rank, if you can pick that up all by yourself."

Ryuk shrugged. "I kinda slacked off whenever the old geezer had us do all that writing practice…," he said, trying to sound indifferent…but his usual grin was starting to creep back onto his face. "When it's just for fun, though…heck, I bet I can read and write just as good as a human who's been doing it all his life."

"Can you prove that?"

"What? Don't believe me?"

"I believe that you're literate. I've seen proof of it. But, as for the level you claim to be at…I don't know if that's true or not, but I do know you're talented at stretching the truth."

"Fine. I'll prove it," Ryuk said as he pulled a book out of the feathers on his shoulders.

"Where'd you get that?" Rem asked.

"Swiped it on the way out."

"…Somehow, I didn't picture you as the kind to steal a book…"

"I would've rather had a video game, but if took a console, I would've had to search around for batteries, and by the time I found them you'd probably just drag me out of there before I could find any decent games. This one looked kind of okay…I grabbed it on a whim, really. I didn't expect to actually read it, unless I got really bored while we were flying."

It was a paperback, and the image on the front cover was of a restaurant table with a pristine white tablecloth-the glass of water in the foreground had a drop of blood swirling around in it. Ryuk opened the book; on the back cover, the utensils were utterly disarrayed and the formerly pristine white tablecloth was smeared with blood.

"Which one do you want?" said Ryuk. "It looks like this is a collection of short stories…" *

"Which one do you think the cover is illustrating?"

Ryuk turned the book around to look at the cover, and scanned the paragraph on the back…

"If I had to guess, I'd say _Lunch at the Gotham Café..._"

Ryuk flipped the book back around, glanced at the first page, and then flipped to a different page near the middle of the book and started to read out loud.

"_One day I came home from the brokerage house where I worked and found a letter-more of a note, actually-from my wife on the dining room table. It said she was leaving me…"_

Ryuk hadn't been exaggerating. He really could read…well, in between the laughing fits, at least. He kept going fairly steadily until Steve sat down with his wife and her lawyer to have lunch, but the narrative broke down into a series of "hyuk"s when the maitre d' thwacked the lawyer in the head with a butcher knife; when Steve fended him off with a pot of boiling rice, a mop, and a squeegee; when Diane kicked Steve from behind instead of pulling out the bolts so they could escape...and that was just a few. Ryuk did just as much laughing as reading, and by the time he finished, he was complaining that his ribs hurt.

"Oh, man…that was _hilarious_…I never thought it would be that good, being a book and all…humans are really something, aren't they? That guy was right about the divorcing couple being crazier than the maitre d'…"

Rem couldn't help but smile…it was definitely a horror story, and a good one at that-it showed the dark, ugly side of its human characters well. But she had to admit that it had been funny in places, in a gory slapstick kind of way. "Well, you definitely proved that you can read. It's a good thing you finished when you did…any longer, and it would've gotten too dark."

The sun had set a few minutes ago, and the first stars were just starting to twinkle in the eastern part of the sky.

"Time for a break, you figure?" said Ryuk. "We've been flying for hours, and the hunters should be gearing up right about now…"

"Sure, now would be fine."

They touched down next to a grungy, soot-covered brick building in yet another city, next to a garbage dumpster. This part of the human world was a lot like Japan, in that it never took much flying to find another city, and they tended to flow into each other in a continuous way.

"So, Rem, you still figure the hunters only search for us at night?"

"I hope so. If they work during the day too, it would be…mph!!"

Rem's scream was muffled by Ryuk's hand as he jumped on her and pinned her down in the corner between the sidewalk and the building.

"What are you doing? Get off me!" Rem tried to yell, but it came out as a muffled "Wddydn? Gffm!" instead.

"Shhh!" Ryuk hissed, glancing fearfully at the sky before ducking his head and covering both Rem and himself with his wings.

Rem stopped struggling immediately when she glimpsed the bit of sky visible under Ryuk's wing...Daril and Sidoh were flying right over their heads. For a horrible, heart-stopping second, Rem thought Sidoh was looking at them-but they passed by. Ryuk waited a few seconds after they flew out of sight before getting off Rem and letting her back up.

"Sorry, but they were coming pretty quick, and you stand out like a sore thumb, being all white…"

It took Rem a while to get her vocal cords working again. "…It's…it's all right…"

"I didn't see Kinddara with them, did you? I wonder where she is."

"I don't know, and I hope I never find out. Let's get moving, away from where they're headed."

"Gotcha."

---

Daril was starting to notice a trend. In the cities they stopped to search in, she'd often find a spot a shinigami had walked through a wall, and that wall almost always belonged to a grocery store…one that sold apples. Ryuk and Rem seemed to be avoiding rural areas…a smart move, really, since there wasn't as much cover there without the buildings jutting up into the sky…but whenever they did find something in a rural area; it was usually near someplace that had apples. Searching cities was starting to get a lot more efficient, since they only had to check out grocery stores to get a good idea if Ryuk or Rem had been there. Daril and Sidoh landed on top of a larger store than most, and Daril told Sidoh to check the ceiling while she checked the walls. She flew around the store in spirals, running her hand through the wall…nothing yet…

"How are you doing, Sidoh? Finding anything?" she called.

No answer. Funny…

"Sidoh? You all right up there…?"

"Uh…Daril…help…"

Daril shot back up to the roof, and she probably would have been amused in any other circumstance, but since she was supposed to be in charge here, it was more exasperating than anything. Sidoh had cuffed himself with a pair of shackles, and he couldn't have looked more sheepish.

"Sorry…I got finished checking the roof, and I was curious how these things worked…I didn't mean to…"

Daril sighed as she grabbed the shackles and inspected the locks.

"Do you have a key for them or something?"

"No, I don't. Once we catch a shinigami, there's no reason for us to unlock them…the King probably thought giving me the keys would be redundant."

Sidoh gulped. "I…I tried kinda sliding out of them, but they're too small…they keep getting caught at my wrist…"

Yes, they were definitely too small to slide over Sidoh's wrists. If only they were as skinny as his fingers…

"I might have an idea, Sidoh…put your knife down for a second, okay?"

Sidoh dropped the knife, but he was in such a hurry to do so that he forgot to think about where he was dropping it…

"EEEOW!" he shrieked as it nicked his toe on the way down. "…AARGH! I'm bleeding! I'm bleeding! Am I gonna die? I'm not gonna die, am I?"

"No, Sidoh, you're not going to die. I've had worse. It probably doesn't even need patching up…"

"But Daril! It's _bleeding_!" Sidoh whined.

"Fine," Daril sighed, rolling her eyes as she took out the roll of silvery 'duct tape' she'd found while searching an apple store. She tore a tiny piece off, and Sidoh held out his foot while she stuck it on.

"There. Happy now?"

"Yeah…no, wait! I'm still cuffed!"

"I know. I'm getting to it. Look in the lock, Sidoh…can you see the lever, behind those little curved wall-like things? If you can get your finger in past those and push on the lever hard enough…"

Daril held the cuff steady, while Sidoh poked around inside the lock. It took a few tries, and a lot of squinting on Sidoh's part, but finally…  
"Yay!" Sidoh cheered as the lock sprang open. Daril held the other one, and Sidoh started to poke around inside it.

"Hey, Daril…," he said.

"What?"

"You think that Cal…Cali…um…that guy we caught's only going to get a level eight, right?"

"Yeah. He didn't do anything seriously wrong. Just a misdemeanour." "So…whaddya think the old man's going to do to Kinddara?"

"She killed another shinigami, Sidoh. Rem did the same thing, and once we catch her, she's going to be executed, so..."

"So…?"

"…Think about it a little longer."

"…No, I still don't…oh," said Sidoh, only catching on because of the grim look on Daril's face.

"Yup."

"Talkin' bout me?" a sinister and horribly familiar voice giggled from behind Sidoh…

Sidoh wheeled around, and his mouth dropped open when he saw Kinddara standing there, still looking very much alive…

"Kinddara! What are you doing here?" Daril said.

Kinddara held out a page torn from a death note. "Here," she said. "Read it."

Daril stepped forward, took the page, backed up to stand next to Sidoh again…it was the same page she'd torn out of her own death note after chaining Kinddara to a tree and pressing the summoning button. The note she'd written was still there, at the top of the page.

_Great King-as you may have witnessed, Kinddara has killed a shinigami. I am sending her back to the shinigami realm under the assumption that you will want to deal her a suitable punishment. _

_Daril Ghiroza_

Underneath her writing, someone else had left a note of their own.

_Daril- Due to the importance of capturing Ryuk and Rem, I am granting Kinddara clemency in this instance. You can expect no further trouble from her-I have given her a stern reprimand, and she has sworn to act obediently, with the promise that her knife will be restored after four months of good behaviour. I wish you luck in your continued pursuit. Hopefully, you will catch them in less than four months, making any future problems you may have with Kinddara irrelevant._

Daril re-read the note several times, and Sidoh scanned it over her shoulder.

"Maybe it's a trick," he whispered. "Kinddara could have broken out of the chains and written that underneath your note to fool us…"

"Doubt it," Daril whispered back. "Kinddara's not smart enough to break out of the shackles on her own, and even if she were, it would be no small feat to imitate the King's handwriting this well…"

It was obvious to Daril that the note made no sense-it was more of a threat than an actual explanation. Rem and Kinddara had done the exact same thing, yet Kinddara was being pardoned so she could help capture her? Rem's crime wasn't any more atrocious…something was missing here, but Daril knew there was nothing she could do about it. Questioning the King's judgement earned you nothing but a harsh reprimand and the cold shoulder at best, and his orders had been absolute- "Come back to this realm with Ryuk and Rem, or don't come back at all. I'd better not see you before then." Flying back to the shinigami realm to ask him about his reasoning or reasons behind the note would cause nothing but trouble.

"What do we do now?" Sidoh whimpered.

"We find Ryuk and Rem, and we find them soon."

"Daril…I'm scared…"

Daril crumpled up the note and dropped it at her feet, gripping her knife as she did so. "There's nothing to be scared of. Now that I know what she's truly capable of, I'm not letting her out of my sight for a second…and if it comes to it, you know I can take her."

Sidoh gulped anyway.

*_Everything's Eventual, _by Stephen King


	23. Memory

Before the other shinigami could catch up, Midora scrawled a note and tore it out of her death note as quickly as she could, stuffing it under the rock just in time.

"Geez, Midora, slow down! What are you, a squirrel or something?" her searching partner wheezed as he appeared over the dunes. Midora didn't know his name, and she didn't care enough to ask.

"I just wanna find them and get this stupid thing over with, is all. The Old Geezer's gonna work us to death at this rate. Come on."

Although the rock never moved, the note was gone from under it a few minutes after they left.

_Dear Death Note,_ it said in rushed, messy writing. _No sign of Justin's hideout so far. I dunno what Zellogi's been up to-the old man seems to be trying to keep us separated. We're still searching around-I got my assignment near the beginning this time when the old man was divvying up search areas, so all I know is that three shinigami are searching that weird pit with chains hanging everywhere, three are looking around that canyon near the human world entrance, and I'm with just one other guy on the far side of the viewing holes. Dunno if we'll find anything, though._

As soon as Justin finished reading, he turned to the five shinigami who were following him, pointed to a tunnel, and said, "That one. You know the drill."

---

Midora and the other shinigami had split up a while ago-she'd suggested that they stick together, but had just shrugged and walked off when he'd asked the reason why. He was starting to get sick of rolling the viewing holes to one side and looking under them. They were a stupid kind of heavy, and there was nothing under them but sand, sand again, some more sand…a tunnel? The shinigami yelped as five other shinigami leaped out of the tunnel, grabbed him, and dragged him down it before rolling the viewing hole back over the entrance. The shinigami yelled for help for a little while as he was dragged along the underground tunnels, but gave up after a few minutes, and stayed silent until they came into a cavern where the stalactites and stalagmites had grown together to form columns. He didn't try to struggle as the five shinigami who had captured him took his knife and chain-he was too far inside the hideout and too outnumbered to escape now. Several other shinigami who had disappeared while searching for Justin's hideout were chained to the columns. As they chained him to a free column, he was surprised that they only locked him up by one wrist, and after looping the chain around the column, Justin's supporters simply closed the other cuff back around the chain…actually, that was how everyone else was chained up, too…

"Ah…found him?" said Justin, emerging from a tunnel that branched off the cavern, holding a bag of round, bright-coloured, sugary-looking things.

"Yep. Right near the tunnel we dug under the viewing holes, just where Zellogi and Midora's notes said he'd be."

"Very good, all of you."

"So, we've been on guard duty for a week now-that's two candies, right?"

"Yes, that's what everyone agreed was fair. Here you go," Justin said as he doled out the things in the bag.

"What's going on?" the shinigami whispered to another shinigami chained to a column beside him.

"Zellogi and Midora are spies. They've been reporting our movements to Justin somehow, and whenever we're searching near a tunnel entrance, Justin sends a gang to guard it, in case it's uncovered. If it is, we get dragged down here and chained up."

The five on "guard duty" had disappeared, and now only Justin was left. The shinigami cowered as Justin looked at him.

"What are you going to do to me?" he squeaked.

"Nothing much," said Justin.

The shinigami blinked in surprise. "Nothing much? You're…you're not going to kill me or something?"

"What would be the point?" said Justin. "We don't need to kill you to keep you from reporting our location to the King. Keeping you chained here is more than effective enough."

"So…I'm just gonna be chained down here forever?"

"Hopefully not forever. The fight should be over before then, one way or the other."

"Cheer up. It's not so bad," said the shinigami next to him. "Justin only keeps us chained by one hand, so we can still sit and move around and stuff, and there's some games he loans out if we get bored. I've got a set of death's heads, if you're up for it."

The newly captured shinigami looked bewildered, but he sat down and took his pieces from the other shinigami nonetheless.

"Oh, well," he said. "Guess it can't be any worse than combing the entire freakin' realm…"

Justin sat down on a nearby rock…it wasn't his chair, but in these circumstances, it would do. Until it was time to check for notes or look at an under-construction tunnel, he'd have to sit and guard the ones who had been unlucky enough to stumble across a tunnel entrance. He listened to them mutter about who had high card and whether or not someone had cheated as he flipped absentmindedly through his death note, wondering where Nu had gone…he'd wanted to ask her more, about what she remembered…on a sudden whim, Justin flipped to the very front of his death note and looked at the first page.

---

The King hadn't been in this room of the tower for a long time. Once he'd taken over as King, it had required nearly all of his time…the last thing he'd completed had been the viewing holes, and that had been centuries ago. He felt curiously nostalgic as he bent over the two-way inter-dimensional transmitter prototype, connecting the wires, welding things in place, and flipping the battery on and off as he tested the parts…it was as natural as breathing. Yes, this was his domain…it had been his domain even before he'd had control over the rest of the realm, this room full of spare parts, batteries, wire, tools...he'd always been the master of machines, of bending them to his will. It had been in him since birth, mechanical engineering…that deep sense of contentment and rightness that came over him whenever he used to work on an invention was coming over him again now, and he'd forgotten how good it felt. He flipped the battery on again, measured the signal strength…no, that wasn't powerful enough. He needed something with a higher frequency…if he remembered correctly; it was in one of these cabinets…

Filled with a spryness and enthusiasm that he hadn't felt in over five hundred years, the King flung open cupboards, searching for the part he needed...but the smile fell off his face immediately when he opened the sixth cupboard on the floor. The King fell to his knees. He stared for a moment at the three clay jars, filled with sand and rust…he'd forgotten about them…no, he could never forget about them. As hard as he tried, he'd never be able to forget…the best he'd been able to do was to forget where he'd put them.

The memories came rushing back into his mind, as if he were a human who'd regained a death note after losing ownership.

---

Nu stood on the rocky, broken ground, listening. Although the vents had been blocked and hadn't made the shinigami realm any warmer or colder since then, she could still feel them rumbling under her feet. Once the struggle had started, she'd known that things would be getting too loud, too busy…that was why she'd gone so far out, so far away from the rest of them. Her senses wouldn't have been able to take it. Her super sensory perception was too strong…so strong that it was more of a curse than a blessing. Even though she was a hundred miles away, Nu could still see the King's tower. She could also hear the scream within it…one that spoke of hundreds of years of pain, rage, loss, and grief…

"I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…that it had to be this way…"

Nu blinked. "Not nearly sorry enough," she said out loud, not caring that the King was far too distant to hear her. "After what you did, there isn't enough sorrow in existence for you to feel enough of it…"

---

Justin hadn't looked back at the first page of his death note since he'd written on it all those centuries ago, and he'd forgotten what he'd written in the first place…there were no human names, so far as he could tell. Just phrases, some only partially completed, with pictures of stickmen and stickman parts hanging from crudely drawn gallows. Justin felt something stir in the back of his mind as he looked at two half-done phrases near the bottom. One of them read JUS_ _N SME_ _S, in clumsy, childish writing, and the other said E_T D_RT FED_R…hangman. Justin didn't know how he knew, but as sure as he knew his own name, he knew that the drawings and phrases were a game called hangman. Something else was trying to surface in his mind, something…Justin closed his eyes and concentrated, before the memory could slip away, trying to bring it into focus… "Dad." Yes, something about "Dad"… "Stop fighting, you two!"… "But, Dad…"


	24. Winter

_Shinigami Realm, 1527 CE (according to human world calendar)_

"Justin? Are you awake?"

Justin grumbled and shifted closer to his side of the basket, away from Fedor's kicks.

"Cut it out, Fedor!"

"You're awake!"

Justin half-opened one eye and glared at the onyx-black, skeletal shinigami with metal detailing who was looming over him. "No, I'm not. Leave me alone."

"Come on, Justin! Did you forget what we're gonna do today? Dad got the day off work…"

Justin's eyes snapped open, and he shot up out of the basket, with Fedor right behind him. They both shrieked when their feet hit the stone floor, and they dove back into the basket and under the blanket.

"Aack! It's _cold _out there!"

"No kidding! We're never gonna get down to breakfast alive! Unless…"

The two shinigami looked at the shenzu-fibre blanket they shared, then at each other. Their eyes narrowed as they clutched the ends of the blanket. Fedor tugged at it. Justin tugged back.

"Cut it out, Justin! It's mine!"

"Only if you can take it from me!"

The twins pulled at their separate ends with all their might, back and forth, in a tug of war both were determined to win…but they stopped when they heard the tiniest of ripping sounds coming from the blanket…

"Oops…oh, no…I can't see it…can you see it, Justin?"

"No, I don't think it actually split anywhere…but this isn't gonna work. We gotta think of a plan…"

"We could cut it in half."

"Yeah…or we could just share it, I guess."

"…I guess."

---

The two padded down the stairs, holding the blanket around themselves as they came into dark, flickering light of the main room of the cave. Although she was wearing a cloak against the cold, they could still see that the shinigami under it was skeletal and golden, with tribal-looking designs etched on her skin. She was cracking open shenzu nuts and warming them over some burning logs; the chains on her head clinked softly as she moved, and the flames magnified her shadows onto the walls and ceiling.

"Hi, Mom," said Fedor.

"Hello, you two," she said. "Come on over here-it's a bit warmer near the fire."

"They almost ready, Mom?" Justin asked as they sat down next to her.

"Actually, I think these two are already defrosted. Here," she said, handing them half a shenzu nut each. They scooped handfuls of the paste-like seeds out of the half-pods that they held like bowls.

"You can have one too if you want, Mom," said Justin, licking his fingers after he finished his nut.

"That's all right-I'm not hungry. But thanks for offering."

"You're _never_ hungry, Mom! How come you haven't starved to death yet if you never eat?" said Fedor.

"She doesn't need to eat. She's already grown up…oh, hey, Dad," said Justin as another cloaked shinigami swooped in from the hole in the ceiling-a black one, skeletal like the rest of them. He slid a cover over the hole-it made the room a lot darker, but it stopped the cold and the ice flecks from coming in. The shadows cast by the flames made him appear to tower over Justin and Fedor-even more so than usual. The jewels on his skin twinkled as he approached the firelight, but the frozen crystals he was covered with evaporated as they warmed up. He dropped the pods he'd been carrying in the corner with the rest of the shenzu nuts, and sat down on the other side of his sons.

"The vents in the earth are still churning out ice…it's getting colder out there still. You boys sure you're up for it?"

"Yeah! We're only going to be in the realm for a little while anyway. Some dumb weather isn't gonna stop me!" said Fedor, bouncing up and down so Justin had to hold onto his side of the blanket to keep it from falling off.

"All right-but I want you two to bundle up well nonetheless. Temperatures like this aren't a joke…shinigami are starting to get hurt if they're not careful."

"…Are you sure it wouldn't be better to wait until it warms up, Xithl?"

"We have no idea when it's going to warm up, and we can't afford to wait any longer. We need to get them down to the human world, and soon…"

"Soon" turned out to be right after Justin and Fedor polished off a second pod each.

"You two behave and listen to your dad, all right?" Armonia said as she wrapped the cloaks around them and lifted them up onto Xithl's shoulders.

"You bet, Mom."

"All right, Mom."

"Take care of them, and yourself, all right?" Armonia said, walking around Xithl to face him.

"Of course," Xithl said. "Don't worry about us."

Armonia reached around Xithl to put a hand on each of her sons' heads, and he hugged her in return. "Thank you for going with Daddy for a while," she said to the twins over his shoulder. "And Xithl, thank you for taking them. I know you're busy, too. I just can't hold off on work any longer…we need more housing. Those poor shinigami living in the King's emergency shelters, all cramped together like that…they've been good about it, and they understand the situation we're in with having twins, but they're still unhappy, and I can't say I blame them…"

"Don't worry about it. I was going to have to take them to the human world sooner or later. Might as well be now."

With that, they broke apart, and Xithl opened the cover on the ceiling hole. Justin held tight to his father's back when his wings came out and he took off with a jarring, swooping motion.

"Wheeee!" Fedor shouted as they shot up into the icy, frozen sky, the wind and ice flakes stinging their faces…it was a rare treat, getting to fly on Dad's back.

They flew out over the white, frozen expanse of the realm, and then Xithl pulled into a dive as they approached the flashing, crackling hole to the human world. Justin was briefly disoriented by the sensation-or rather, lack of any sensation, as they flew through it. He felt nothing, no sense of sight, hearing, gravity or balance…it was as though _he _was nothing, in someplace between realities that didn't exist…

Then they were through, and Justin breathed a sigh of relief. He could feel everything again…Xithl's wing beating on his right, Fedor knocking against him on his left as they were pushed by the wind…and _warmth_. The human world was still a bit cold, but it was _way_ warmer than the shinigami realm. Finally, after a few more minutes of descending, Xithl touched down. They were actually in it…not just above it, actually _in_ it…the human world, which they'd only heard stories about until now. Xithl knelt down, and Justin and Fedor slid off his back onto the ground. They looked around in awe…it was surreal, and painfully bright. Justin didn't even know how to describe it.

"This place is seriously weird," he said. Mordra, the female shinigami who was always drawing or painting something, hadn't exaggerated...although the ice crystals that covered the ground in the human world were white like the ones in the shinigami realm, there were at least a hundred other colors that Justin couldn't even name. Towering stone and wood boxes rose up out of the ground all over the place, and at least five types of strange creatures were bustling back and forth, raising a racket as they went, moving all around the shinigami…and through them. Justin flinched when a small furry creature ran through his stomach, but it continued on without pausing, oblivious to Justin's presence.

"What's this, Dad?" Fedor said, touching the clear substance on the ground. He touched it again, tangible this time-it rippled under his fingertips.

"Water."

"Where did it come from?"

"See the ice everywhere?" said Xithl, gesturing to the white crystals lying on the ground…the only thing that looked sort of familiar. "It's different from the ice in the shinigami realm. We have dry ice that melts straight into a gas, but the human world doesn't get cold enough for that. Instead, it has a wet kind of ice with hydrogen in it instead of carbon, and a middle stage between gas and solid called liquid."

"Weird," said Fedor. "So, what are all these things walking around?"

"The tall ones without a lot of fur have the letters and numbers over them that you taught us…they're humans, aren't they?" said Justin.

"Very good, Justin." Xithl smiled…typical. Fedor, always curious, always alert, always asking questions, but sometimes forgetting the answers…Justin tended to be off in his own little world, but when he did pay attention, he remembered everything, and could put two and two together more easily than someone three times his age.

"Now, here's what we're going to do today," he said, pulling out the boys' death notes…one with metal detailing for Fedor, and one with a few jewels on it for Justin. They'd gotten a kick out if it when he'd first given them their death notes, decorated to match their owners. "You've been practicing the human symbols I taught you for a while, and now you're going to use them. Here. We're going to play a little game."

He held out their death notes and pens, and they reached up to take them. "I'm going to let you two loose until the sun…that bright thing in the sky…" he clarified when they looked confused, "goes away and it starts to get dark. Write down the names of as many humans as you can, and keep their faces in mind as you do. The one who kills the most humans by nightfall wins."

"Huh? I don't know if I can think about the symbols and a face at the same time, Dad…" said Fedor.

"Me either…do you really think we can kill one?" said Justin.

"Yes, with practice, you'll be able to think of symbols and faces at the same time, and kill one. Maybe this time, maybe not… if neither of you manage to knock down a human, then the winner is the one who has the most names written. Ready? Go!"

The twins sprinted off in opposite directions, and Xithl flapped up to the top of a building to watch.

---

"Dad? It's dark now…where are you?" Fedor called from the streets below. "Dad…?"

He jumped as Xithl dropped down off the building beside him. Xithl's heart sank as he looked over Fedor's head…he hadn't killed one. They had to start killing humans soon, or…no; he had to stay calm, for Fedor and Justin. He couldn't let them pick up on his own fear, and he couldn't panic…he had to keep them encouraged.

"I'm right here," he said. "I've been flying back and forth between you all day. Let's see…how many names did you get?" Fedor handed him his death note, and Xithl flipped through it. "One hundred and thirty-one! That's my boy!"

"Did I kill any?" asked Fedor. "I wanted to get a lot of names, so I didn't stop and watch to see if they died…"

"No…your lifespan is the same…and if I can still see your name and lifespan, it means that you aren't one who takes lives yet. They'll fade once you can kill humans reliably. Now, let's go find your brother and see how he did," Xithl said as he knelt down and Fedor clambered onto his back.

They flew around the walled city, but Justin wasn't where Xithl had left him last, near the building with dead rats hanging from it…he couldn't have gotten far in only a few minutes. Xithl flew a few more loops through the city, looking around for Justin, but he heard him before he saw him. His voice was coming from the thicket outside the city wall…oh, dear. It was a good thing his mother wasn't there to hear him…he hadn't learned _that_ kind of language from his parents…

"GIVE IT BACK, YOU STUPID FEATHERY F….Dad! Help!" Justin shouted when Xithl reached him. Justin was jumping up and down at the base of a tree, flapping his wings with all his might; but he wasn't getting anywhere, or course. Justin was only in his nineties; it would be decades until his wings developed enough to be functional. A flock of black birds were sitting in the tree, pecking away at the jewels on Justin's death note.

"Justin? Why do a flock of crows…?"

"I dunno! They just took it!"

"What happened, Justin?"

"My death note fell out of my hands while I was moving, but these stupid feathery flying things took it before I could get back to it! I thought you said my death note was invisible in the human world, Dad! How come they see it?"

"You dropped it?"

"It was an accident! I didn't mean to!"

"Calm down, Justin. I'm not angry. Sorry…I should've warned you. If a death note touches the ground of the human world, it becomes part of the human world, and the creatures of the human world are able to see it. It's a good thing crows have a weakness for sparkly things, and that they got to your death note first. If a human had picked up your note, I would've had to stay behind and watch its new owner on your behalf until the human died or gave the notebook back."

Justin fumed. "I still hate them. If I give the crows names, will they die if I write them in my death note?"

Xithl laughed. "No. It doesn't work that way."

The crows cawed in surprise and scattered, unable to see the shinigami holding the sparkly book that now appeared to have risen up and shooed them away on its own. "Let's see…," said Xithl as he flipped through Justin's death note. "It was a very close race…Justin has one hundred and twenty-nine names written down to your one-thirty-one, Fedor…"

Fedor turned toward Justin and giggled.

"I would've gotten more if it weren't for the crows…what is it, Dad?"

Xithl was staring enraptured at the space above Justin's head. He swooped down and snatched Justin up, beaming. "Justin…I can't believe I didn't notice until now…your lifespan's gone up!"

"…What? Really? It did?"

"Yes, it did! I'm proud of you, Justin! You killed a human!"

"Aww…," Fedor grumbled as Justin climbed over Xithl's shoulder and got a hold on his back. "…well, congratulations, I guess."

"Thanks. You put up a good fight," said Justin.

"Yes, you did, Fedor. I'm very proud of both of you. Ready to go home?"

"Yeah," said Fedor. "This world is crazy. It's like one of Mordra's paintings after she eats too much strange fruit."

"And it's full of _crows_," Justin grumbled.

"All right. We'll head straight back to the shinigami realm…but before we go home, I have to stop in and see the King for a bit. Are you two all right with that?"

"What? You're taking us with you to see the King?" said Fedor, perking up instantly.

"Just for a minute."

Xithl took off, and as they headed up through the sky back to the shinigami realm, Fedor turned to Justin and whispered, "Wow! First the human world, now the King…what do we call him when we meet him?"

"I dunno, Fedor. Probably something like 'great king', or 'your highness'…"

"Dad just calls him Shoboro."

"Yeah, but that's while he's at home…we should probably call him something different to his face…"

"What do you think he's like?"

"Dad says he's nice."

"I hope so…"


	25. Tower

"Wow…" Fedor gasped as the tower came into sight. "That's huge…is that where the King is, Dad?"

"Yes."

"It's…it's really…well, more than 'pretty'…" said Justin, struggling to find the correct word to describe it, the way it stood as a shining black beacon in the midst of the endless desert of white.

"Magnificent?"

"Yeah. Magnificent," said Justin, trying the word out himself. "It's the most magnificent thing ever."

"Whoever built it must be a genius," Fedor piped up.

Xithl smiled. "Your mother built that tower. I told her she was a genius when it was finished, but she never believed me…you boys be sure to tell her what you think of it when we get home, all right?"

"What?" gasped Fedor. "Mom…mom carved that whole tower, all by herself?"

Xithl laughed. "No, Fedor…it would've taken hundreds of years instead of tens to finish the tower if she'd carved it all herself. Your mother just designs buildings…everyone helped to carve it, under her supervision. The King's tower isn't just for housing the King, you know."

"Yeah, Fedor," said Justin. "Everyone works there, too…Mordra has her room for painting and drawing and stuff, Dr. Gamek has a room in there, and there's this big one full of machine parts and tools and junk for Moloch…"

"Exactly, Justin," said Xithl as he landed on top of the tower and started down the spiral staircase. "It's also where your mother keeps the plans for modifying caves and rock piles she finds into suitable housing, that can withstand this cold…a lot of shinigami had to evacuate their homes because of it, and they're living in some temporary quarters near the bottom of the tower…she also stuck a concert hall in here, for Shoboro. Hopefully, he'll be able to actually use it some day, once we get this mess all sorted out…"

"So…what do you do, Dad?" Fedor asked.

"…Shoboro wasn't expecting to become a King, so he trained in musical arts as opposed to political science or government. We're in a bit of a crisis right now, so until we get a handle on all the problems this weather is causing, I'm helping him out with some of his decisions."

As Xithl walked through the halls of the labyrinthine tower, lit and heated by innumerable burning torches, Justin and Fedor heard voices coming from nearly every room, mixed in with the sounds of paper rustling, cabinets squeaking as they were opened…they saw a flash of sparks and heard a mechanical whirring sound as Xithl briefly passed Moloch's room…

"Hello, Sidoh," Xithl said as he stopped.

"Hello," the shinigami in front of him replied, quietly. Justin and Fedor gaped in awe…even the air around the shinigami felt ancient. His eyes, however, looked anything but ancient. They jumped out and hit the twins with their clearness and sharpness. This was the shinigami with super sensory perception; eyesight strong enough to take the wood of shenzu trees, see the minutest details of its grains, and place them perfectly to form death notes.

"Whoa…Old Sidoh…" Fedor whispered to Justin out of the corner of his mouth. "He's thousands of years old, isn't he?"

"Ah…this is your daughter? I don't believe we've met…Nu, correct?" Xithl said, dropping his voice as he spoke to the small creature next to Old Sidoh who was covered in eyes. The creature made the smallest, breathiest of affirmative noises as it took a few shy steps back.

"Well, nice to meet you, Nu. Sidoh, I'm here to see Shoboro. Is he in the Golden Hall right now?"

"No," said Old Sidoh. "He's in his living quarters."

"Thank you. I'd best let you continue on your way."

Old Sidoh and the pillar of eyes walked off without another word, and Xithl headed up a flight of steep stairs to their left. "Not much further now," he said. "Good thing…it would've been a pain to walk all the way down to the Hall…"

Justin and Fedor were surprised when they got to the top of the stairs. Unlike most of the other passages in this tower, this one ended in a stone door. "Shoboro?" Xithl called as he knocked on the door.

"Xithl? Come in," said the voice on the other side. Xithl pushed the door open, and he walked into a smallish room with a fireplace burning a pile of shenzu logs, and shinigami sitting on a stone chair. He nudged Justin and Fedor, and they slid off his back onto the floor, hiding behind his legs.

"Don't be shy," Xithl said, pushing them forward. "Say hello."

Justin and Fedor craned their necks to look up at the shinigami…was it possible that he was even taller than Dad? He wasn't skeletal, but he did look as though he was made out of grey, bony, spiked plating. He had long hair that covered one of his eyes-the other eye had a purple downward slash over it…the male royal marking.

"Hello, your highness…," Justin stammered. Fedor opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

The King smiled at them. "Please, none of that 'your highness' stuff," he said. "Just call me Shoboro. I haven't seen you two since you were babies…it's a shame it's been so long. You've both grown an awful lot."

Justin and Fedor both sighed with relief.

"Yes, it really is a shame…they probably don't even remember Micoran," said Xithl. "Is he around, Shoboro?"

"Yeah, I'm around," a small grey shinigami with the purple eye markings said as he came out of the one hallway that branched off the room. "What's up, Dad?"

"Micoran, this is Justin and Fedor…they're Xithl's sons," said Shoboro.

"Hi," said Micoran.

"I have to talk with Xithl for a bit, Micoran. Can you entertain Justin and Fedor for a little while?"

"Sure. Come with me, you guys-I'll show you something neat."

With a nod from Xithl, Justin and Fedor followed Micoran back around the corner.

"How old are you guys?" Micoran asked.

"Ninety-six," Justin and Fedor said at the same time.

"I'm a hundred and five," Micoran said as he led them into another room. The only thing in it was a cushioned bowl, containing a translucent, purple, round object.

"What's that?" Fedor asked.

---

"So, Shoboro…how's the egg doing?"

"It's healthy and developing well. It's at the stage where its mother can sense things about it…Rhyinn says it's a daughter."

"Congratulations! So, how did things go while I was gone?"

"It's a gong show as always, Xithl. Armonia found a few more likely spots, and she managed to finish carving out an unusually large cave, but there's a dispute between two shinigami over who gets first rights to it. They both have large families that fit the capacity of the place exactly, they've both been living in the basement of the tower for the same number of years, and they came to me to ask for it at the exact same time…it nearly turned into a fight to the death. I had to step in and physically pull them apart. How on earth am I supposed to decide which one gets it?"

"If you ask me, Shoboro…you can't give it to either of them. If you give it to one of them, the other will resent it, and it'll create a conflict that will go on long after they both settle down into permanent homes. You'll have to find an entirely different homeless family to bestow it on."

"But I can't blame them for getting desperate...out of all the families in the temporary shelter, they've been here the longest, and they have the largest families to try and cram into one room…if anyone deserves to get out of here, it's them. Giving it to some other family when they both need it more just doesn't seem fair…"

"It's not really fair to give it to one and not the other, either…but what can you do? Sometimes, keeping the peace is the best we can hope for."

Shoboro sighed. "I suppose you're right. As usual."

A knock came from the door, and two more shinigami entered, one cloaked, one uncloaked. Micoran, Justin and Fedor came running at the noise.

"Ah…Gamek, Rhyinn. Just in time," said Xithl.

"Hi, Mom," Micoran said to the female shinigami as she removed her cloak, revealing a crystalline white body edged with blue. She wasn't quite clear, but it was easy to imagine that the rounded spikes that branched off her were made of spun glass. Her catlike eyes crinkled at the corners as she smiled at Micoran.

"Hello, Micoran. How's your baby sister? Did you watch her for me while I was gone?"

"You bet."

"Daril…I think I see two of your friends," said the uncloaked male.

"Fedor! Dustin!" a small female shinigami said as she peeked over his shoulder.

"It's 'Justin', Daril."

"That's what I said. Dustin."

Daril's father shrugged. "Sorry, Xithl…the skeletal ones usually have trouble with the 'j' sound. She should start saying it correctly once she's in her seventies…"

Xithl shrugged. "No worries, Gamek."

"You go play with the boys for a while, okay?" Gamek said as he set Daril down, and she toddled off toward them.

"Hi, Daril. You ready to learn how to play hangman?" Justin asked.

"Sure, Dustin."

The four children disappeared back around the corner, and the light mood disappeared with them.

"Rhyinn…did you get out to the vents today? Is it getting any warmer?," Shoboro asked, completely back to business.

Rhyinn shook her head. "If anything, it's getting colder. If things keep going at this rate, we'll hit absolute zero in a matter of weeks."

Shoboro sighed. "That's no good. That's no good at all. Young shinigami can't handle that…heck, even older shinigami get uncomfortable when it gets cold enough to freeze all the gasses right out of the air…has anyone else gotten hurt since last time, Gamek?"

"Just one. Mordra's son…he wandered off outside while she wasn't looking. When she found him, he'd frozen his hand right off."

"Oh, no….which one?"

"The seventh one-Zellogi."

Shoboro put a hand to his eyes, as though he'd just developed a migraine. "Poor little guy... is he going to be okay?"

"He'll be fine. When Mordra brought him in to me, she took her youngest along too. They matched up fairly well, so I transplanted some hatchling growth factor from the little one into Zellogi's stump…it seems to be growing back. Good thing he's practically still a baby himself. Shinigami lose that sort of capacity for re-growth very early on…I doubt it would've been a full recovery if he were any older than thirty-five."

"How did Gukku have that much hatchling growth factor left over? Isn't he ten years old by now?"

"Actually, Gukku isn't the youngest anymore. One of the eggs hatched just a week ago-it's a male. They named him Deridovely."

"Only one injury since last time…and it's going to be a full recovery? We've been unusually lucky this…" Xithl was suddenly cut off when the door burst open, and a blue shinigami with bull-like horns and vivid red eyes walked in. Shoboro immediately switched from looking worried to unsettlingly expressionless as he and the blue shinigami stared each other down. Xithl, Gamek and Rhyinn stayed silent…the hatred between the two was almost visible, a string that ran between them as they glared at each other…

"Moloch," said Shoboro, his tone measured.

"Shoboro," Moloch replied, in the same politely veiled manner.

"I didn't give you permission to seek me in my living quarters."

"I don't seek you out at all unless I have a good reason. I need a second death note."

"Why?"

"I'm almost finished with the human world viewing holes, but I need to be on the side the information will come from while I work on transmission…in other words, I have to be in the human world for a few months, and I need to give a human a death note for that."

Shoboro raised his one eyebrow. "What does your mate have to say about you being gone so long, Moloch? Do you expect her to take care of your children all by herself?"

"Arva doesn't need my help. She's a damn fine mother-she's completely capable of taking care of Keichi and Dornes on her own for a while. I don't just think of my own children, Shoboro. What about Xithl's boys? You know how few twins survive to adulthood, sharing the usual lifespan between them. They'll be dead in ten years if they don't learn how to kill humans soon. If they could just go to a viewing hole instead of waiting for their parents to ferry them to the human world and back, how much more time could they spend practicing writing in their notes? It might make the difference between life and death. Unlike some others, I don't think only of myself and my own family, Shoboro. I'm willing to sacrifice some of my time for the betterment of this realm."

Shoboro bristled. "Good for you. I'm glad that you realize that."

Moloch glowered back at him. "May I have a second note, or not? I know you have plenty. I saw Old Sidoh dropping some off mere minutes ago."

Slowly, Shoboro reached behind his back and pulled out a blank death note. "You're right. I do have plenty. Take it, and get out of here."

Moloch didn't look at the death note as he took it. He stared right back at Shoboro, daring him to look away first.

Suddenly, there was a crash, and Justin and Fedor rolled into the room, yelling as they clawed and kicked at each other. Micoran ran in after them, followed by Daril, toddling as fast as she could. "Dustin! Fedor! Cut it out!" she pleaded.

Shoboro and Moloch's attention snapped toward the spectacle, and they watched Xithl pull his two sons apart and lift them into the air, one in each hand. They kept swinging at each other, ignoring their father as they yelled threats and insults.

"Stop it, you two! Calm down right now, or else!" he shouted over the racket they were making.

"IT'S FEDOR'S FAULT! HE WROTE IT IN MY DEATH NOTE!"

"SHUT UP, JUSTIN! YOU DO!"

"I DO NOT!"

"DO TOO!"

"QUIET!" Xithl roared. The twins fell silent with shock…they'd never heard their father yell before.

"Sorry about that, everyone," he said. "It's been a long day for them…they're probably tired. I think it's about time I took you two home."

"Aww, but Dad…"

"Don't 'but Dad' me. You know better than to start fights…in front of the _king_, too…"

"Whoa, Xithl…keep my job out of this. They're boys, boys fight…it's what they do. I understand," said Shoboro.

"Yeah, Dad. Shoboro's right. Fighting's part of the fun…it's what we do," said Justin.

"I can tell when you two have had enough for one day. It's time to go home."

"…yes, I'd better go too…Daril's mother is probably wondering where we are…" said Gamek, picking up the death note that the twins had dropped while they'd fought and handing it back to Xithl. Xithl flipped it open, looking at what Fedor had supposedly written…he rolled his eyes. It was another game of hangman- J_ST_ _ LOV_S DAR_L G_ _RO_A. Of course…typical boys.

"See you after I get them home, Shoboro," Xithl said as he followed Gamek out the door.

"Moloch," Shoboro said. Moloch had been heading out as well, but he paused in the doorway, not looking back. "I don't want to see you in my living quarters again."

"As I said before-I don't seek you out unless I have a good reason."

With that, Moloch was gone. Shoboro slumped over in his chair, rubbing at his temples as he let out a weary sigh.

"This King business is hell, Rhyinn…you ever get the feeling that even though you're doing your best, your best just isn't enough? Nobody was expecting this unnatural cold…there are so many homeless, and little ones are dying under my watch…Zellogi was one of the lucky ones…"

Rhyinn placed a hand on his shoulder. "You could be the greatest King in existence, but you still wouldn't be able to change the weather or the number of caves, dear. Considering the circumstances, you're doing better than many would in your situation. Times aren't easy for anyone…you're being too hard on yourself."

"I know…it still doesn't feel like I'm doing enough, though, somehow…it seems like Xithl has to help me with even the simplest of decisions…"

"None of the King's decisions are simple-they impact too many shinigami for them to be simple. You need to stop feeling responsible for every single misfortune that every single shinigami in the realm endures, or you're going to drive yourself insane."

Shoboro laughed…Rhyinn could hear the irony in it. "Sometimes, I wonder if I was already insane, asking to be King…"

Rhyinn sighed. "It pains me to see you like this…you've been trying to hide it, but I know you aren't happy. You don't have to do this, Shoboro. We could use something uplifting, to help us take our minds off the difficulties, and you're the only musician in the realm…we need your talents there, as well. Think about it."

"I'd like nothing better, honey, but Xithl won't agree to take over, so I'm going to have to wait until Micoran is old enough to take my place."

"You're willing to wait another three hundred years for him to grow up?"

"If there are no descendants of the First King of the First Realm willing or able to serve as ruler, then someone willing to take over as King is chosen by the rest of the shinigami…and there's only one who'd be willing to take over right now…that's the only reason I asked for this job in the first place."

"Oh, stop it, Shoboro! Why is it such a big deal if Moloch becomes King? Just because you can't let go of a grudge…"

"I'm perfectly capable of letting go of a grudge, Rhyinn. It's Moloch who doesn't seem to be capable…"

"I said enough! You're King and you hate it, Moloch would be more than happy to take over…why are you being so hard-headed!?"

"I'm not being hard-headed!"

"Yes, you are!"

"No, I'm not!"

"You're not, are you?! Then what are you being?!"

"Fine! Do you really want to know, Rhyinn?!"

"Yes, I do!"

"He scares me, okay?!"

The sarcastic retort Rhyinn had prepared died in her throat.

"There. I admit it. Sure, I don't like the guy, but there are a few shinigami I don't like, and I'd be willing to let them take over as King if they had the brains for it. Moloch, though…he downright gives me the creeps. Can't you feel it, Rhyinn, whenever you talk to him? Something's just not right about that guy. He can be standing right in front of you, but he's not really with you…you can see it in his eyes. His mind is somewhere else, and you don't know where…but you don't want to know, because wherever it is, it isn't good. I know you think that there's good in everyone, Rhyinn, and I respect that, but be honest with yourself for a minute. What kind of feeling do you get whenever Moloch walks into the room? What does your gut say about him?"

Rhyinn was silent for a long time. She looked over at Micoran, who had dragged his un-hatched baby sister into the room and fallen asleep with his head on the cushioned bowl that held her.

"…there is…something unsettling about him," she whispered, finally admitting it.

"He's up to something," said Shoboro. "I just wonder what it is…"


	26. Breakthrough

_Human World, 2014 CE_

Ryuk breathed a sigh of relief when he finally spotted the sun glowing on the horizon. Since that close call, they'd flown all night with no further sign of Daril or Sidoh…or Kinddara, wherever the heck she'd gone. Of course, he knew it was stupid to think they were safe just because the lights were coming back on-the hunters were just as real in the light as they were in the dark-but, still, it was encouraging. Well, to him, at least…Rem looked like she was going to fall out of the air if she kept it up any longer. She had even more worry stretched across her face than usual, and her wing strokes were getting wobbly.

"Hey, Rem. Can we take a rest?" Ryuk asked.

With a weary-looking nod, Rem plopped down on the ledge of a building, and Ryuk landed beside her.

"…You don't look tired…" she said.

"I'm not tired. I'm doing fantastic," said Ryuk, grinning as usual. "You're the one who needed the break. If you won't ask for one yourself, then I guess it's up to me, isn't it? No, no…don't bother arguing," he interrupted as Rem opened her mouth to speak. "Unless you're going to try and tell me you really can fly for days on end with no break?"

"…Thanks," she mumbled. Ryuk could tell that Rem was trying to look annoyed, but she wasn't pulling it off, either because she was secretly relieved or because she was too darn exhausted…probably a little of both, he thought.

"So, you're looking pretty wiped. What's up? The usual hunter/King/being a fugitive thing, multiplied by five because of the close call?"

"Yes, that's about it," Rem sighed.

"Well, cheer up, Rem. Remember; if it does come down to an epic life-or-death chase, you don't have to be faster than Daril and Sidoh. You just have to be faster than me."

Ah…finally, a smile! Ryuk thought he might have heard a giggle, too, but he couldn't be sure.

"I couldn't do that…leave you behind…"

"There you go again, Rem. I keep saying I'm lucky you're too soft for your own good..."

"Don't misunderstand me. I meant that I couldn't outrun you. That's all."

Ryuk's jaw dropped. For one moment, he thought she was serious, but then she started laughing again…just a little, but he could definitely hear it this time. "_Ouch. _That's harsh," he chuckled, delighted.

Ever since he'd gotten her to drop the serious demeanour that one time in the alley, after the movie theatre incident, he'd been determined to do it again; but this was much more than he'd expected. Never in a million years would he have expected Rem to actually…well…play along. It had taken months, but really, it was more than he ever could've asked for. He guessed it was the second close call that had done it…it had scared the hell out of her, finally forced her to break down; just like last time. He almost wished they could bump into the hunters more often, if it made her this much easier to get through to…it really was a treat, seeing this rare, happy, playful side of Rem. It bugged Ryuk to see her worried. Hell if he knew why. It just did. Ryuk figured it was probably just an optical illusion, caused by the beam of light reflecting off the mirror-like side of the skyscraper next to them and onto their ledge, but Rem seemed to be…sparkling, somehow, as she laughed. It really was pretty, the way the light hit her to make her look as golden and glowing as a sunray…

What was he supposed to be, a poet? Ryuk gave his head a shake, laughing at his own weird musings. He'd have to remind himself not to let his mind wander again. Oops…scratch that. He'd just seen something…

"Hey, Rem," he said, pointing to a building that said 'library'. "There's something I wanna do in there, before it fills up with humans."

"What's going on with you and books all of a sudden?"

"It's not a book I'm interested in. We need to go now, though…early on, so no humans notice that a computer is looking up 'Moloch' on its own."

"Moloch? That sounds…"

"Familiar? I think I've had this conversation before with someone else…the King used it as his alias, while he was looking for you, but I'd heard it before then, in the human world, and he said he'd done a little something down here…it's been driving me nuts, wondering..."

Rem looked down at her feet…was she biting her lower lip? Maybe a little…

"Actually…you're right, that is…interesting…"

It only took one look between them, and they were off.

Ryuk had no idea how to work the stupid 'library catalogue' thing, but once he finally found a computer that was set up for the internet, it was easy to type 'Moloch' into the search engine while the librarian was in the back room fooling around with returns or something. He'd seen Light do this about a million times...he clicked on a few links, scanned them over.

"What does it say?" asked Rem.

"Moloch," Ryuk paraphrased as he read the screen, "A middle eastern god to whom child sacrifices were made, usually by fire…used to describe person or thing requiring costly sacrifices…then it branches off to describe his role in…what, seven different religions? Don't any of these sites have a simple, clear-cut story like the Kira ones did? You know, a 'legend of Moloch' or something?...Let's try pictures," he said, clicking on something on top of the screen. "Well, that's no help at all…I mean, they've all got horns, but the King doesn't look anything like a cow…well, that one's sort of similar, but really, nothing's jumping out…"

"It could be that he did whatever he did so long ago that it's been distorted over thousands of years…or it might not be the same Moloch…"

"How many Molochs do you know, Rem? This doesn't feel like a coincidence…"

"Well, coincidence or not, I think our time is up. The librarian's looking this way, and she seems puzzled…I think she's noticed the computer scrolling on its own…yes, here she comes."

"Darn it…what the heck _is_ this 'Moloch' stuff about? What did he do?"


	27. Demon

"Darn it…what the heck is this 'Moloch' stuff about? What did he do?"

Ryuk's voice was slightly distorted as it came through the viewing hole's speakers and echoed through the tower's control room, blending with the sounds coming from the hole trained on the Trackers. The King smiled…so they were still pronouncing his name correctly down in the human world… He must've made quite the impression on Geoffrey Smith's village, to cause his correct name to sweep across the globe once again. Before his final visit, the humans had distorted it into something like 'Molek', the stupid creatures. Give them a few hundred years, and their feeble memories distorted everything until it was beyond recognition. Even their realm had become distorted, barely recognizable through the huge changes that had happened since Geoffrey had died, only five hundred years ago…ah, Geoffrey. Not many shinigami willingly possessed humans…the only living shinigami he could think of who'd done so were Ryuk and Rem. Other than himself, of course. He was like Ryuk in that way…back before he'd been King, possessing humans had been a hobby of his. He'd possessed a few humans before Geoffrey, but none had been nearly as useful before their deaths…and perhaps with the exception of Ryuk's human, none of the others had been as entertaining in their deaths, either…

Truth was, he'd finished the viewing holes long before he'd gone to Shoboro for a second note…there was no need to go down to the human world to "work on transmission". That was how he'd found Geoffrey Smith in the first place; with a newly completed viewing hole. No, he'd needed to go to the human world for an entirely different purpose…one that Geoffrey had fulfilled quite nicely. He'd been a talented swordsmith in a little village in England, the kind with a few farms and one little church. He'd lived happily with his four children and wife…well, five children, after his wife died delivering the last one. It had been then that Moloch had decided to strike. The timing was perfect….with the pain of losing his wife so fresh in his mind, he'd be even more protective of his other family members, especially the new one…it would be easy to get Geoffrey to do what he wanted. Moloch chuckled as he remembered their first meeting. It was only after he'd entered his shop and lit the forge that Geoffrey had seen the thin black notebook on the floor…oh, how the colour had rushed out of his face after he picked it up and spotted the shinigami on the rafters…!

"What…who are you?" he'd finally managed to squeak.

"Hello, Geoffrey. My name is Moloch, and that's my notebook you have. All of those who touch my notebook can see me and hear my voice, but since you were the first to do so, you will be possessed by me until the day you die. You can use my power to kill other humans, if you wish…just write their name in the notebook. Be sure not to give it away, though…the notebook kills its previous owners once they give up ownership…" That was a lie, of course, but he couldn't have Geoffrey giving the notebook away and losing his memories. That would defeat his purpose for coming to the human world in the first place.

"M-Moloch? He…he who…?"

"Yes, yes. Your priest got it right." He'd been watching Geoffrey as he went to that sermon…the priest had talked about the 'demon who grew stronger when children were sacrificed by fire.' It just made sense to kill the humans while they were young…more lifespan gained, with less writing-and what could he say? Fire was one of the more entertaining methods of death. The entire congregation had shuddered as the priest had talked…it was hilarious. Did the humans he'd possessed before really find it that shocking?

"Now, listen closely, Geoffrey. About a mile into the woods behind your house, there's a pile of metal from my realm. I need you to make them into knives." Tzargantium, of course…he'd been sneaking it into the human world for a while now, as he'd watched Geoffrey, assessing his worthiness...

"W-what? Why?"

"That's why I chose to posses you in the first place…I only work with metal after it's been forged, and the one who does the actual shaping is very loyal to the current ruler of my realm…the one whom these weapons are being made to overthrow. You have a reasonable amount of talent, for a human. You'll do just fine."

"But…I…"

"Do you think the pagans wanted to sacrifice their children any more than you would, Geoffrey? My powers reach farther than you may think…make me my weapons, and you'll cause no harm to your children…I won't feel the need to take any more family members from you than I have already…"

"You…you're the one who…Maggie's…death?"

"Yes, Geoffrey…it was my fault you didn't get the doctor in time…that is how I work, influencing humans so that their actions cause the deaths of loved ones…funny, isn't it?" He hadn't actually done anything to Margaret Smith-that was a lie, too. Her lifespan had just happened to run out on its own naturally, but there was no reason he couldn't use it to his advantage. Of course, that had scared the living hell out of the poor human, and he'd set to work at once. He'd worked for a month, barely containing his fear as he churned out knives and Moloch watched from the rafters. He'd even managed Moloch's weapon of choice when he requested it- a scythe.

Geoffrey never did use the death note, however…he was a rarity, that one. A human who truly had no one that he wanted to kill…was repulsed by the idea of killing anything. The kind other humans called 'decent' and 'upstanding.' It had come as no surprise, then, when he'd finally started to crack…eventually; he'd grabbed the notebook from its hiding place under the floorboards of the shop and ran to his priest with it.

"Father…," he'd wailed, finally breaking down into tears. "I am possessed…possessed by the demon Moloch…he is forcing me to make weapons for him…he'll kill my children…"

"Calm down…calm down, my son…what happened? What do you mean by 'possessed'? Many people feel threatened when demons appear to them in dreams, but they cannot truly harm you when they appear in this manner..."

Geoffrey had stopped crying then; he'd just looked at the priest in a sadly resigned way. "It's no dream, father. The demon is standing behind me right now. It follows me everywhere. You can see it…" Geoffrey had held up the notebook, then… "if you touch this…"

The priest had looked sceptical, of course, but he'd touched it…then screamed when he saw Moloch standing behind Geoffrey's chair.

"Nice to meet you, too," Moloch had said in reply.

The priest had tried the "power of Christ compels you" and holy water bit then…of course, it hadn't worked.

"Geoffrey," the old man had wheezed, "this is indeed a demon…and a powerful one…we need the help of the Vatican. I'll leave with you first thing tomorrow. We will be gone for several weeks…you'd best pack, and prepare your children for your absence…" If Moloch couldn't have seen the priest's remaining six months over his head, he would've thought he'd keel over from a heart attack at any second.

Geoffrey had done just that. He'd gone home, packed, and told his oldest son and apprentice, Richard, that he'd be in charge of the smithy while he was 'escorting the Father on a journey'. He'd given him one last run through of where the tools were, demonstrated how to light the forge one last time, and sent him back to the house…then he'd stood there for hours, in the dark and silence.

Moloch had broken the silence first. "You know, Geoffrey…you can't make my weapons for me if you're going away."

"I'll make nothing more for you, demon. Who is the ruler of your realm…the devil?"

Moloch had chuckled. "No."

"Then it's as I thought…you don't just mean hell when you talk of your realm…it's the entire realm beyond this earth…you hope to overthrow the Lord himself."

Moloch had thought his sides would split with laughter…oh, humans were just precious. Geoffrey, however, seemed to take this as confirmation of his theory.

"I'll help you no further…I'll taint my soul no further than I have already by helping you. It doesn't matter if you kill me…my soul is what counts. So long as my soul and the souls of my children remain pure, you cannot truly harm us…"

He'd gone silent again then, and went back to standing motionlessly. Moloch had waited a bit, seeing if he'd crack, fall to his knees and beg for forgiveness, beg him to spare his life and the lives of his children…nope. The stupid human seemed resolute.

"As you wish," Moloch had said.

"Be gone, demon."

The human relaxed and smiled for the first time in a month as Moloch had left the smithy…silly thing. He probably thought he'd 'banished the demon', so to speak…in any case, he'd gone to the priest the next morning with the good news, and they'd cancelled their trip. It was true that that was the last time he ever saw Moloch, but about everything else, he was sorely mistaken.

_Richard Smith_

_Joyce Smith_

_Thomas Smith_

_Margaret Smith_

_John Smith_

_October 14__th__, 1527, 9p.m. Burn to death after their father fails to put out the forge properly, causing the smithy and family home to burn to the ground._

_Geoffrey Smith_

_October 16__th__, 1527, 3a.m. Suicide. _

Moloch had brought the weapons up to the shinigami realm as he waited to see if the humans died the way he'd written in this death note. They did, every single one of them. He'd returned one final time after stowing the last knife away, to find the charred remains of Geoffrey's house and workshop and five new markers in the village cemetery. He'd also made it to the river just in time…he'd smiled and waved at Geoffrey before he'd jumped in. Poor, silly human…he'd picked a useless time to die, if he wanted to stop Moloch's plan by refusing to help. He'd already made more than enough weapons than necessary. Weapons that had come in very handy, over the time that had been both the best and worst of his life…the establishment of his Kingship…

The King had taken the largest jar out of the cupboard and brought it with him up to the control room. He picked it up and looked sadly at it, then looked back at the screen of the viewing hole…Ryuk and Rem were flying again, after their futile search for the meaning of "Moloch." Of course they wouldn't find anything specific…the humans who knew the specifics tended to die before they could tell, and there was nothing left after that but the rumours, becoming vague and distorted with time. Once Geoffrey, his family, and the old priest had died, the villagers were only able to speculate. It had been the same when Ryuk possessed his human…he'd watched Ryuk's entire stay in the human world from this very control room, other than the brief moment he'd taken to capture Rem. Those who knew the truth about the 'Kira' legend would die in less than fifty years, and only the rumours, so far off from the truth, would remain…

He took his eyes off Ryuk and Rem and looked back at the jar.

"I'm truly sorry it has to be this way…I have no choice but to kill him now, after he's sided with her…," he told it.


	28. Calm

_Shinigami Realm, CE 1527_

Moloch lifted one of the rocks out the floor of his workshop and laid it aside, revealing the pit where'd he'd stowed the weapons that Geoffrey had made before he had died. Moloch tried not to laugh out loud as he dropped the last of the knives in…he didn't want anyone else in the tower to come poking around, curious. He had enough weapons for every shinigami on his side…and he finally had enough shinigami on his side to pull it off. It had taken a lot of work, convincing so many shinigami that Shoboro was to blame for everything that had gone wrong, but when you couldn't rely on facts, manipulating other's emotions usually worked. "If he really cared about you and your family, do you really think you'd still be stuck down here, in this dungeon? I would've thought you'd have a home by now…" "I'm so sorry…I heard about your son…it's a shame that even with all the power we've given him, the King hasn't been able to do anything about it…"

Ah, it was good to be back in his realm…soon, Shoboro was going to get what was coming to him. Moloch would finally begin his reign as King…the thought of it made him giddy with happiness. He felt indestructible, powerful as the vents that dictated the realm's climate…Moloch, the conqueror. Moloch, the King. The feeling didn't dissipate as he slid the rock back into place, and it flew along with him when he jumped out of a window and started toward home…it would be good to be home, too. Well, not exactly 'to be home'…he didn't care about the rock, and he wouldn't be living in it much longer, anyhow. What he was really looking forward to was seeing her again…the female shinigami who would soon be queen…who'd stuck with him, even though his plans had taken him away so often, supported his every ambition, and never complained about it…

Arva never complained about anything, ever, actually…she was the most good-humoured shinigami he'd ever met, hands down. Not once in their nearly two hundred years together had he ever seen her frown…nothing fazed her, and nothing knocked that permanent smile off her face. She was good for him, in that way…she balanced him out, he supposed. As a future King, he had no choice but to take everything seriously…Arva took nothing seriously…whenever he got too serious, too stressed, all he had to do was watch her for a moment or two. To her, life was simply one giant game, and changes were neither good nor bad; they were merely new and entertaining. He could still remember her response when he'd told her he'd wanted to become King of a realm, even if it meant they'd have to leave so much behind, would never be able to return…without even batting an eye, she'd replied, "Okay, love. I'm game…sounds like an adventure!"

It didn't take much flying to get home, and it wasn't hard to miss, either. The rock jutted out of the ground, far above the ice-covered spikes that surrounded it, and there was a wedge-shaped ledge that stretched across its top. Moloch floated down toward the ledge, and as he did, a shinigami came into view…a slender, long-limbed one; covered in leather, with blue skin and long, dark hair…she was waiting, there on the ledge…

"Arva!"

"Moloch!"

He knew what was coming next, and he was ready to catch her when she sprang into his arms.

"I missed you!"

"I missed you too, love."

"Is this just a quick visit, before you head back to wherever it is you've been?"

She hadn't know that he'd been in the human world, or what he'd been doing…when she'd asked, he'd said it was a surprise, and she'd left it at that.

"No, I'm back for good…and in a few hours, I promise to tell you all about where I've been…your surprise will be ready, then…"

She giggled. "Darn it…now I'm curious…"

"How are the children?"

"They're fine…although I wish you'd been around to help Keichi with her math. She's trying to learn some things beyond the basics of just lifespan manipulation, and you know I'm no good at that sort of thing…but I've managed all right with Dornes. He knows almost all of his letters now. As for the egg…it's doing fine, but it's still too early to tell if it's a male or a female. Given any thought to names?"

Moloch laughed as he put her back down. "I'm sure whatever you come up with will be just fine."

"I was thinking Necca, if it's a female…"

Oh, there she went again...she could talk about those children for hours…they kept her amused to no end, they did. He didn't mind listening, though…they really were a laugh sometimes, and they kept her happy…yes, if anyone deserved the results of what would come in just a few hours, she did…

---

"F," Fedor guessed.

"Nope," Justin said as he drew the last leg on the stick human. "I win."

"W-wha…," Fedor yawned, "what was it?"

Justin filled in the empty blanks and held it at an angle, so the flames flickering around the main room of the cave lit up the page.

"…Zqmqxlulzl? What the heck's a…zqmqxlulzl?"

"I dunno. I just made it up."

Fedor punched Justin in the arm. It didn't hurt at all…Fedor looked half-asleep, and the punch reflected it.

"Cheater."

Justin rubbed at his eyes, and punched Fedor back…just as sleepily, if not more. "When did we say that it has to be a real word? And it might even be a real word, too…we just haven't learned it yet…"

Armonia smiled as she scooped them up. "Okay, you two…time for…"

She jumped as the door crashed open with a bang that resounded off the walls; Justin and Fedor were nearly jarred out of her hands. Xithl dropped down through the hole, and slammed the door shut again.

"W…Welcome home, dear…what…?"

"I need to talk to you. Right now. Put them down for a minute."

Fedor and Justin were wide awake, now. Dad didn't get scared…he just didn't…that had to be some other look on his face; there had to be some other reason that he was whispering in Mom's ear. She looked confused, at first…but then the same look on Dad's face came onto hers…

"No…" she whispered.

Dad kept whispering, too low for them to hear…

"Justin?" said Fedor.

"Shhh…" said Justin, straining his ears to hear.

"No…how did you…when?"

"Soon. Very soon…while all the young shinigami are sleeping, most likely…"

There was a long look between them.

"So…we…"

"Yes. We're meeting in those tunnels I sometimes take Justin and Fedor to for writing practice, before we…"

Another long look…then Dad took Mom's hand, and led her toward the twins.

"What's going on, Dad?" Fedor asked.

"Nothing. Don't worry about it. Come on, you two…bedtime."

Somehow, Justin knew that this wasn't a time to argue…he didn't complain as Dad picked him up, or when he was set in the basket beside Fedor and covered with the blanket.

"Now, boys…" said Dad, smiling. Justin was probably just imagining the note of worry behind his voice…he'd said himself that there was nothing to worry about. Even if there was something wrong…which there wasn't, there couldn't be…Dad could take care of it. He could take care of anything. "We might be gone for…a little while. There's extra wood by the fire if it starts to get low, and there's extra food by the fire, too…take care of each other. Keep writing in your death notes…while we're gone, you two need to keep trying to kill humans. I want you to help Fedor with that, okay, Justin?"

It occurred to Justin to complain, but…

"Okay," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

Mom bent over and wrapped one arm around each of them. "Listen to your father…take care of yourselves, and each other. We love you."

"We love you too, Mom," Fedor muttered.

Mom let go. Dad gave them another of those long looks, as though he was trying to memorize their faces…he patted their heads, and with that, they went down the stairs…the sound of a sliding door opening, then closing, echoed up the stairs…they were gone. Justin and Fedor stared after them for a long time…they couldn't sleep, not with this eerie quiet that filled the darkness in the room…


	29. Before

Even this dry, barren area of the shinigami realm hadn't completely escaped the cold. The searing hot winds blasted the ice off the jagged, porcupine-quill like rocks, and thick white fog blanketed the entire area as the ice melted, froze back onto the rocks, and melted to become fog again. It was nearly impossible to see anything in the steamy haze-it took a full ten minutes for Xithl to finally find the entrance to the underground tunnels. When Armonia and Xithl got to the end of the tunnel, they could barely squeeze their way into the cavern, it was so crowded. Hundreds of shinigami had crammed themselves into the cavern, and they were packed around the stone columns that ran from the floor to the ceiling. Shoboro was visible above everyone else-he'd had the good sense, or privilege as King, to stand on a rock. Once he saw Xithl enter the room, he started to speak.

"Everyone, thank you for coming-and a special thank you for going out of your way to find this place. The tower isn't safe at the moment, and I know you're wondering what's going on. I'm sorry…it isn't good news. Sidoh…if you would be so kind…please. Tell everyone what you told me."

The gnarled, ancient shinigami slowly rose up off the wall he'd been sitting against, his joints creaking. The small black rock beside him looked up with several worried eyes as he spoke. His voice was quiet, and as dry as ancient parchment, but everyone listened as if their lives depended on it.

"We have a mutiny on our hands," he said. "We all know of the frustration of those living in the basement of the tower-Moloch has taken advantage of that frustration and cultivated it into anger and a taste for revenge. He plans to use them to overthrow Shoboro and usurp the Kingship-they'll be storming the tower any time now."

"How do you know all this, Sidoh?" asked Gamek.

Sidoh gestured toward his head. "My ears are just as strong as my eyes. When I'm in the tower, I can hear everything that goes on within it. For years now, Moloch has been talking to those in the basement; planting the seeds of discontent…not everyone has joined him; only seventy or so. However, he must think it's enough, because he just gave the word a few hours ago for the plan to move ahead. I'd have given you more warning, but I didn't get much of one myself…I didn't expect him to act so suddenly after announcing his plan, and I didn't think it was necessary to concern you with this unless there was actually a solid threat, your highness…"

Shoboro shrugged. "We'll do the best we can with the time we have. According to Sidoh, Moloch has mentioned that he has a scythe…a tzargantium one…hence, the evacuation from the tower. Everyone…I'm sorry to drag you into this, but we have a large-scale crisis on our hands. I've worked with Xithl to come up with a plan, and we'll need some assistance. I'm sorry it's come to this…as King, I know there must have been something I could've done to prevent it…"

"Prevent it? How?" said Mordra. "What the hell could you have done to make Moloch less of an underhanded bastard? Waved your hands and said a few magic words?"

"Yeah, Shoboro!" shouted Sanke, the shinigami with a cow skull for a head and a feather headdress-Mordra's mate. "I dunno what the hell's wrong with those ingrates-you gave them a home, and now they're turning on you? Before now, I've never heard of a King letting shinigami live in the tower…if you hadn't let them, they'd be freezing their asses off under a rock or something! It's their own damn fault if they can't suck it up and accept that they've had a little bad luck!"

"We're with you, Shoboro! If the King needs our help, it's our duty and our pleasure to help him!"

The small cavern boomed with cheers of agreement. Shoboro looked awestruck. He smiled as a lump formed in his throat…he hadn't expected this...

"Thank you…all of you. Your support…if you think I am worthy to be King, I'll give my heart and soul not to disappoint you."

More cheers…Shoboro raised a hand, and the shinigami quieted down.

"We have very limited time left…we need to make this quick and clear," he said. "Sidoh?"

"Moloch plans to have the mob attack Shoboro and overwhelm him with sheer numbers- he mentioned an 'element of surprise', so I assume his plan was to do it when you were off your guard. He also said that it may be difficult to convince you to give up your position, and that was what the scythe was for…it was wise to evacuate the tower while they were in the basement, plotting…"

Shoboro sighed. "As Sidoh mentioned…there is an element of danger here, so I want you to think carefully before you agree to anything. If there are only seventy renegades, I only need about a hundred and forty of you to help me. We need to subdue them in order to regain control of the tower…the standard way of doing that is to rope them from a distance, handcuff them, and then take them somewhere to calm down and await trial. It would probably be best if we entered the tower and remained concealed using the hidden passages. Armonia…do you remember where you built them?"

"Clear as crystal."

"Thank you. Once we're in, we wait for them to attack and find themselves alone in the tower…Xithl predicts that they'll wander the tower looking for other shinigami, and then we catch them alone, rope them up, handcuff them, and take them out of the tower and into these tunnels until everyone is captured and the fair trials can begin. This is to be done slowly and carefully…I want no one getting hurt, no matter whose side they're on, and I don't care how long it takes. As for Moloch…as King, it's my duty to take care of him."

"Shoboro…," said Xithl.

"No, Xithl. We've had this discussion before. Moloch has a weapon, and trust me, he knows how to use it…he's dangerous. If anyone has to fight him, it needs to be me. I'll be the one to lead him away from everyone else so the rounding up can occur safely, and when the time comes, I'll take care of him…I can match him in a scythe fight, if I need to."

"Shoboro, please…hear me out. By the sound of it, Moloch may be willing to kill you…do you really think taking him on is a good idea?"

"Is letting him kill someone else a better idea?"

"It's only you that he's interested in. A small group of shinigami could probably lead him away to no ill effect. Right now, there are a lot of upset shinigami in that tower who aren't thinking straight, and Moloch's done an excellent job of turning you into a scapegoat for that mob's problems. If you're spotted in that tower, it will only incite more fury in them…things will only get uglier. Your presence would likely do more harm than good…it's best if you stay away from the tower in the first place."

"So, as King, you think I should let the shinigami do this themselves, while I sit back and do nothing?"

Xithl sighed. "We have no proof that Moloch will actually kill. Once we remove his backup, he may well give up and surrender. Please, just consider this-instead of heading straight to the tower and facing him right away, wait until after we're finished. Then, if you feel that it's necessary, you can head in and try to subdue him yourself."

"He won't surrender."

"What makes you think so?"

"I know Moloch…he doesn't surrender. That's why he's done this in the first place."

Rhyinn reached up and grabbed Shoboro's hand, snapping his attention away from Xithl. "Please, Shoboro," she said. "Be reasonable. Don't put yourself in danger, just because you feel obligated to help…Xithl has some good points. If Moloch surrenders, you won't have to fight at all. Think of Micoran and your daughter…and…and me. If you…if the worst…well…what would we do, without you? Give him a chance to surrender."

"He won't surrender."

"Please, Shoboro."

There was a long silence as Shoboro thought, looking from Rhyinn to Xithl to the shinigami crowded around the room.

"Have some faith in the shinigami who've come here to help you, Shoboro. We can take care of this…taking a risk like that just isn't necessary," said Xithl.

There was another long pause…Shoboro sighed. "Very well. I'll humour you, Xithl…but it will come down to me against Moloch, in the end. Believe me-that's just the way he works. Now, you all know what's going on, and you all know the risks. If you're willing to help…Xithl?"

Xithl held up a box and swung the lid open. "How many of you…oh," he said as the entire room raised their hands simultaneously. "That's…encouraging. Hold on…I might not have enough stones," he said as he took out a bag and poured the pebbles inside it into a box. "Well, maybe I do. It's not necessary for us to involve everyone in this, so here's how it will work. Everyone who wants to help, pick a stone from out of the box. There are about a hundred and forty black stones…if you get one of those; you'll go to the tower. If you get a white stone, you back home to your families…and tell them how much they mean to you, while you're at it. Since Shoboro has decided to listen to reason, there will also be…three… red…ones," Xithl said as he picked three stones out of another bag, and dropped them in, one after each of his three final words. "Those with red stones need to make sure that Moloch and his weapon are away from the rest of the shinigami. He can't know what's going on, or he might try to…interfere."

One by one, the shinigami lined up and picked stones out of the box; until only Xithl was left…he reached into the box and pulled out the last stone. A red one.

"Who else?" he called, holding it up. Armonia raised her hand, a red stone encased in it. Rhyinn started to raise hers…

"No. Don't," Shoboro hissed as he grabbed her wrist.

"Shoboro…if I have it, I have it."

"No. I won't allow it."

"You can't make an exception for me just because I'm your mate, Shoboro. Fair's fair."

"Then I'm coming with you."

"No. You heard what Xithl said…"

"Yes, I did. I don't care."

"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. Right here, Xithl!" Rhyinn called, switching the stone to her other hand and raising it high. Xithl had opened up the bags of rope and handcuffs, and shinigami were swarming around him, picking them up…he waved an acknowledging hand over their heads.

"Rhyinn! Just a few minutes ago, you didn't want me to get involved because it was 'dangerous', and now you're…!?"

"Xithl said that he's only interested in you…and it's not as though I'm going to fight him or anything. Let me do this for you, Shoboro…you're in more danger than anyone else here."

Suddenly, the cavern echoed with wing beats as a flurry of shinigami took off after Xithl down the tunnel, racing past Shoboro and Rhyinn as they went.

"See you soon," said Rhyinn, kissing his forehead before she spread her wings, jumped up into the cloud of shinigami, and was swept away.

"Rhyinn!" Shoboro called…too late. He clenched his fists with frustration…he'd tried to explain it, but he hadn't had enough time…how were you supposed to explain something that you _knew_, when you knew it in your gut instead of your brain? How did you explain it so that they understood, listened, took it seriously? Shoboro knew that Moloch wasn't going to give up as easily as they seemed to think he would… they'd only scratched the surface of something. Too late now, though…all he could do was hope for the best…hope he was wrong.


	30. Storm

"…What's going on?" Arva asked as Moloch opened the door to the King's quarters.

"I want you to stay in here for a little while. I'll come fetch you when it's time…you'll like this surprise. All of you."

Dornes looked curiously around the room, but Keichi was looking up at her mother, mirroring that comically concerned expression on her face as she continued to ask questions…

"But…this is Shoboro's room, isn't it? Where's he gone? Where's _anyone_ in this tower? It's practically deserted…"

"Don't concern yourself with that just yet. I'll be back…stay here until then."

Arva's eyes widened in surprise as Moloch picked up the scythe that was hidden behind the door. She clutched the egg closer to her chest.

"Moloch? Wait! What…!?"

He waved merrily back at her before he shut the door. He whistled as he descended the stairs…far away, he could hear surprised yells. He chuckled…it was going exactly as he'd planned it. Of course someone in the tower had overheard him while he was instructing his pawns…he'd tried very hard to make sure they did, and make it seem accidental. It hadn't been easy, keeping track of Old Sidoh so he'd be in the tower at the right times to overhear. Just as expected, when he'd told the ones in the basement to charge, the tower had already been evacuated, and now, shinigami were trying to subdue them with rope and handcuffs…a move straight out of the history books. He wondered what Old Sidoh had thought the "element of surprise" he'd mentioned was…the scythe, perhaps? Or some strategic placement of his forces to lure Shoboro into an opportune spot? He obviously hadn't guessed correctly, because things were going according to plan. There had been another component of keeping track of Old Sidoh-not only talking about the plan to take over while he was in the tower, but also being extremely careful _not _to talk about a certain something, not until just now, not until the tower had been evacuated and he could speak freely…the knives Geoffrey had made in addition to the scythe.

Obviously, Old Sidoh had never found out about them. And obviously, the pawns had believed him when he'd told them that Shoboro considered treason a crime punishable by death, that his forces would be primed to kill, and it would be us or them…they'd have to slice through the ropes as soon as they were caught, and then use the knives on the attackers before the attackers used their knives. If the facts were lacking, play on their emotions…if anything, fear was an even more potent controller than anger. He'd managed to convince them that as King, Shoboro had many more knives than just the five traditional ones that he handed out to the ones he trusted most…that he kept several more a secret just in case a situation just like this occurred. Yes, it was obvious that it had worked…the screams proved it. Moloch would've felt just a little bit bad about it, if it weren't a necessary sacrifice…after all; they were only the useless shinigami who still sided with Shoboro.

He stepped off the last stair and into the hall and stood, waiting-he didn't have to wait long. Two shinigami appeared out of nowhere and dropped down from the ceiling-Rhyinn and Armonia. Moloch was disappointed. He's been expecting…someone else.

"Moloch, you need to stop your friends, right now!" said Rhyinn.

"I don't think that's necessary."

"It is necessary, Moloch…they're going too far. You really ought to know…they're…" said the golden, skeletal shinigami beside her. Moloch tried not to laugh…the two females were putting up a good show at acting tough, but he could see the hints of shakiness in their limbs…

"I already know what they're doing with their weapons…Armonia Denzai, was it? And I know what your plan is…you two are in charge of 'taking care' of me, correct?"

He was right…the threatening glares flew right off their faces. Now they just looked blankly shocked…he snickered to himself he raised the scythe, and they glanced at it and then each other with a flicker of panic…their wings shot out, in preparation to flee the instant he came at them.

"I'm disappointed that Shoboro didn't have the mettle to come and face me himself…this was meant for him, not you two."

A sound like an iron spike crashing into rock exploded through the hall; Armonia jumped and looked around wildly…Moloch giggled at the scream she let out when she looked over at Rhyinn.

It was a shame that he hadn't gotten to use it on Shoboro, but at least he knew that the plan would have worked…it had worked on these two, at least. Call their attention forward by acting as though he was going to attack with the scythe, then, while they were distracted, step surreptitiously on the button that detonated the device he'd installed in the wall behind them mere hours ago, one that was supposed to have given him an advantage in the fight against Shoboro…

Rhyinn didn't look at the tzargantium spike that was protruding through her chest for long, or at the hole that was rapidly getting wider as sand and rust flowed out of it. Instead, she stared straight at Moloch, looking ridiculously indignant…the poor thing was trying to speak, but the blow had likely knocked the wind right out of her.

"Sorry, Rhyinn. No hard feelings. I didn't think a two-on-one match was fair, and you just happened to make a bad choice in places to stand…and an extremely bad choice in becoming Shoboro's mate in the first place. It's nothing personal…oops. Too late-I suppose I should've spoken more quickly. I was right about one thing, though…looks like Shoboro gave her one of the knives when he became king."

A final small drip of sand fell off the spike, spattering on the cover of the death note that was lying in the steaming pile of grainy debris. Next to the death note, half-embedded in the sand, was one of the five gleaming knives bestowed by the King, only to be used in an emergency…Moloch plucked it out of the pile and tucked it into his belt. "Now, then…" said Moloch as he stepped toward Armonia, raising the scythe. "Don't you still have a job to do? Are you supposed to kill me, or is Shoboro being noble again and only allowing you to capture me? I wonder if you have a knife…it would seem as though I've started a bit of a collection, and I'll need all five if I'm going to have a complete set…"

Armonia didn't have a knife. She'd thought to grab Rhyinn's, but she'd been paralyzed...and now that Moloch had it, she was mentally kicking herself…no, even if she'd grabbed the knife, she wouldn't have been able to do anything with it. One puny little knife against a scythe, and when she didn't even know how to wield one properly…pointless. Everything was much, much worse than she'd expected…she'd just seen another shinigami killed right before her eyes, and she could hear dying screams behind her…never in the worst of nightmares would a shinigami have dreamed this up…yet it was happening. Shinigami weren't supposed to die…Armonia had often wondered how humans dealt with the thought of their own mortality, and she wondered even more right now…she'd never had to contemplate the possibility of her own death, because never in a million years would she have imagined even one shinigami in this realm dying, much less several, and all at once…

This was no time to panic, or she'd die next. Quickly, Armonia calmed herself down, weighed her options…the only logical thing to do was to run, get everyone to retreat, get back to the holes as fast as possible. Calmly, Armonia pictured herself sprinting down the hall and spreading her wings, flapping as fast as she could while she shouted for everyone to get out…it was beyond her why she took one shaky step back and fell down, instead. Her mind was calm enough, but apparently, her body wasn't getting the message…again and again, she ordered herself to get up, getting less calm and more frantic as Moloch loomed over her, scythe raised…

Suddenly, Moloch wheeled around, catching the black spectre that was rushing toward him from behind and slamming it against the wall.

"Ah…and where were you?" asked Moloch, tightening his grip on Xithl's throat and hoisting him further up against the wall.

"Right behind Rhyinn and Armonia…" said Xithl, keeping the knife in his hand raised. Moloch wasn't surprised…it made sense that Shoboro had given Xithl a knife.

"Ah…you were the backup, just in case something went wrong…what happened, Xithl? What about poor Rhyinn…?"

Xithl shook his head, looking tortured… "It was fast…"

"You're right. I was much too fast for you to do anything. That wasn't very nice of you, Xithl…I'm sure Shoboro didn't tell you to try and kill me. What did you do that for?"

"You were about to kill my mate…and not just my mate…you deserve to be killed…you _need_ to be killed, for the good of every shinigami in this realm. Look at what's happening…look at what you've done…you're every bit a monster as Shoboro makes you out to be…"

"Acting high and mighty won't save you now," Moloch said as he crushed Xithl's hand against the wall with his scythe, forcing him to drop the knife. "Are you afraid?"

Xithl blinked up at the scythe, and then stared back at Moloch, wincing as he tried to move his fingers. "I can't honestly say it isn't a little bit disconcerting."

"Any final words?"

Armonia's heart leaped into her throat as Xithl looked straight into her eyes.

"You can't save me, Armonia. Don't try."

She knew he was right…with a horrible sinking feeling, she knew he was right…she had nothing; no way of stopping Moloch…

"Run. This will take Moloch a few seconds…at least I'll be serving a final purpose. Get everybody out of here. That's the best thing you can do. I love you. Go. Now!"

Armonia shot up into the air and flew down the hall, but she couldn't stop in time as a row of bars shot out of the ceiling and blocked off the hall. She flew right into them and fell to the stone floor, clutching her head in pain as stars burst out in front of her eyes…

She heard Xithl sigh. "Another button in the floor…another trap…"

"You didn't think I'd try something like this unprepared, did you?"

"…No. No, I didn't."

Xithl didn't scream when Moloch cut across his throat, but Armonia more than made up for it with hers. He just dripped down onto the floor, flowing through Moloch's hand as he disintegrated. Moloch shook the last few grains off his hand, then bent down and picked up the second knife, sticking it into his belt beside the second one. He walked back to Armonia, who was leaning against the bars. Goodness…there was moisture in her eyes. Again, he would've felt guilty, if it hadn't been necessary…to make another shinigami cry was something else. They didn't cry over the silly little trivial things that humans did…a lost toy, a little too much stress at work, a fight with a prospective mate whom they'd only known for a week…it was said, that to make a shinigami cry, you needed to "strip them off all hope; send them to the very darkest place their psyches can reach, with no prospect of redemption or recovery…"

Yes, that was definitely a drop of moisture, running out of the corner of Armonia's eye…

"Again, I'm terribly sorry about this, dear…it's just a case of you being in the wrong place at the wrong time…well, and making a bad choice in sides. What about you, hm? Anything you want to say?"

She took a rattling breath in. "…Promise me…"

What? Had he heard her correctly?

"Promise…promise me you won't touch my boys. Promise me you won't hurt them."

Moloch looked down at her, slightly perplexed.

"What kind of shinigami do you take me for, Armonia Denzai? It's not as though I'm doing this without a reason…what would be the point in killing children? I like children, for goodness' sake. I can't promise you anything, but if they give me no reason to, I can't see why I'd want to harm them."

With an easy flick of his wrist and the hushed whispering sound of falling sand, Armonia slumped over and became the third pile in the hall. Moloch let out an exhausted sigh…that bit hadn't been exactly as he'd planned. He'd thought he'd only have to kill one shinigami today…after killing the first one, he'd had no choice but to kill the others, so they couldn't go back and warn Shoboro about the traps while he reset them for the main event…oh, well. It couldn't be helped. He flipped a rock out of the ceiling, twisted a knob that pulled the bars back into the ceiling, replaced it, and then turned to go push the spike back into the wall…

Moloch's eyebrows went up in surprise. Arva was standing at the foot of the stairs…she wasn't smiling. True, she hadn't been smiling when he'd left her behind in the King's quarters, but there'd still been a hint of good-natured curiosity around her eyes, as usual. He'd never seen her look like that…never in his life had he seen her look so horrified, with no trace of a smile anywhere on her face…

"Arva? What's the matter? What's wrong?" he asked, taking a step forward. "Are you all right?"

He was shocked when she took a step back, still looking at him with utmost terror…

"Moloch? Wha…what have you _done_?"

"What have I done?" he said, looking confused for only a second before he it all snapped into place. "Oh…this. I'm sorry, Arva…I didn't want you to find out until all this was over, but I suppose the surprise is spoiled now…you're going to be queen in a matter of hours."

She said nothing.

"Speechless? That's all right. You don't need to thank me. You deserve it in every way possible…you're the one who inspired me to do this, love…you and your spirit, the way you never let little setbacks defeat you…that's all Shoboro's kingship was, really. Just a minor setback…"

He'd expected her face to light up again at the news, but _that _look was still there…where was that smile of hers? It was infuriating…why wouldn't she show at least a tiny bit of gratitude?

"That's why I told you to stay in the King's quarters until I came to get you…now, the surprise is ruined. How long have you been down here?"

"…I followed you down a few minutes after you left. You…you…killed them."

"I'm afraid so. Sometimes, sacrifices are necessary…" he said, starting toward the stairs…

Arva held up her hands, as if she were shielding herself. She took another step back. "Get away from me."

Moloch stopped short, as if she'd punched him in the gut. "What did you say?"

"Don't come any closer…I'm warning you…"

"What…what do you think you mean by that?"

"If…if I'd known…you…capable of this…after all these years, I thought I knew you…stay away!" she commanded as he lifted one foot.

"Arva…love…you don't know what you're saying."

"I know exactly what I'm saying…look! Look at this! Look at what you've done! You're…you're…a…a monster!"

Moloch felt her words cut straight through his heart and rip it out of his chest. He couldn't control his arms anymore…they started trembling of their own accord, and his grip on the scythe tightened until his fingers hurt…he was losing track of any coherent thought as his brain overflowed with a searing red colour…monster? After all this work, after so many hours he'd sacrificed, after all the risks he'd taken to get this far…monster?

No. He was King, and he would _not_ stand to be called a monster…

"_What did you say_?"

"You heard me. You're a murderer…a cold-blooded murderer…"

"After all this…after all I've done for you…you dare to call me…?"

"I'm leaving, and I'm taking the children with me. Don't you dare try to follow us."

"WHAT!?"

"STAY RIGHT THERE! YOU'RE INSANE, MOLOCH!"

At that moment, Moloch's mind was overwhelmed with the blinding redness, not even aware that he was rushing toward the stairs, roaring with incoherent fury…

"LEAVE ME ALONE! GO AWAY!" Arva screamed as she ran back up the stairs…


	31. Children

Arva didn't get far before Moloch grabbed her by the wrist, almost pulling her off her feet.

"LET GO OF ME!" she screamed.

"CALM DOWN, ARVA!"

"LET ME GO!"

"I SAID, CALM DOWN! STOP IT!"

She just kept screaming like she was crazy…her high-pitched shrieks sliced through his ears…he had to get her to stop, or else…

"SHUT UP! I…TOLD…YOU…TO CALM DOWN!" he roared as he threw her down onto the stairs…

---

No. No. It couldn't be. He hadn't meant to do it…he'd just wanted her to calm down, make her listen to reason…

She'd just kept screaming at him, telling him to go away, that he was a monster…she'd tried to fight him off, and he'd had to fight back…he hadn't meant to…the screaming had been like glass shards in his brain…all his thoughts had blurred together until their single overwhelming message was to make her stop, he _must_ make her stop…scythes were good at stopping things, but he hadn't been thinking past what would happen if he…

He'd never even heard so much as a grumble out of her before. The incessant shrieking…he couldn't deal with it, he had no experience with it...it wouldn't let him think more than two seconds ahead. If only she'd just calmed down, like he told her to…

Moloch crouched at the foot of the stairs, watching sand drip off the end of his scythe onto the fourth pile on the floor. Maybe it would've been better if he'd told her about his plan beforehand…she'd had no idea what he'd been doing, none whatsoever…nothing about being King and Queen, nothing about the drastic measures he'd have to take to get there…all he'd told her was that he was working on a "surprise." Killing another shinigami was a bit of a concept to get used to. Yes, she probably would have been shocked at first, but she would have grown to accept it…

Then again, maybe she wouldn't have. Maybe she would have reacted the same way, no matter when she learned…the way she had reacted so strongly, just now…even though it had been for such a good cause…she was his mate. For her to act with such unexpected _revulsion_…maybe…it was as though she'd thought that killing another shinigami was something she couldn't forgive him for. Shoboro was forever going on about how he refused to implement a death penalty, because "no crime merits the killing of a fellow shinigami"…perhaps, she had thought the same way?

Quickly, he pushed that out of his mind, before he could think of it any further. It scared him; how that thought rang through his mind like a bell… "ring of truth"…he quickly forced that out of his mind as well. No. Arva had been completely devoted. She'd simply overreacted because she'd seen it before he'd had a chance to explain; before she'd had time to wrap her mind around such a revolutionary concept.

It wasn't supposed to happen this way. He wasn't supposed to lose anything in this plan…Shoboro was supposed to be the one who lost everything. If Moloch had just been made King in the first place...

Shoboro would pay for this. And even though it tore at his soul to think it, the way Arva had been acting…the way she'd refused to calm down…if she had truly taken the children and left, she would've had no choice but to side with Shoboro. Either you were on Shoboro's side, or you were on his; and if she was no longer on his side… Truthfully, he'd rather she were dead, than have that happen. But what to do now? How was he supposed to explain this away? They would wonder where Arva had gone, the others…everything was going wrong. If only building a kingship was like designing something like a viewing hole…if it got to the point where he was completely lost and nothing was working, he could always start over from scratch. That was how he felt now…if even Arva, his mate, was capable of betraying him like this, how could he ever hope to rule over the shinigami in this realm as the King, the almighty, the all-powerful, with boundless devotion…?

…Start over from scratch. Start over from scratch. The wheels in Moloch's head were turning. Could you start over from scratch, with an entire ream? Moloch laughed bitterly…only if everyone's minds could be erased and moulded, to regard him as the being with infinite power and wisdom…if only everyone could have their memories erased, and filled with whatever he chose to put in their minds…

Moloch suddenly sat up straight. Minds that were still bendable, whose memories were still unformed, whom he could tailor in whatever way he wished…young minds. Children under one hundred years old…brilliant. At that age, young shinigami had barely learned to walk and talk, and hadn't had time to form opinions…a prime age to shape their sense of how the world worked. Besides, the shinigami who could remember fragments of their toddler years were few and far between, and the memories would be so blurry that they'd be easy to discount. The influence one could have over a child under a hundred years old was infinite…he could create an entire realm of beings who knew nothing but loyalty and veneration of a King…

Moloch smiled at the thought. The wheels in his head were spinning so fast he could almost hear them…he sat long after all the sand dripped off his scythe, working out every last detail, planning for every possible circumstance…

Finally, he stood up. He wiped at his eye…moisture was in it. He'd have no choice, especially with Arva gone…she'd proved that unless minds were controlled right from the start, no amount of perceived loyalty could truly be trusted, and no one could truly be controlled. It saddened him to the very depths of his soul, what Shoboro was forcing him to give up…

If he was going to start over, with nothing but subjects he could mould to his specifics, he'd obviously have to get rid of the ones whose minds were set and hardened. The easiest way, with a minimum of pain for everyone involved, was to do it now. The young ones didn't need to live with the pain of the knowledge of what happened to their mother, even for a second.

So far as Moloch was concerned, bloodline meant nothing. It was the foolishness of holding bloodline as a factor of worthiness that had started this long mistake of Shoboro's rule. The only reason Shoboro was King was because of his bloodline. Bloodline was worthless, the most pitiful excuse imaginable for favouring someone. To him, it was as good as dirt. No matter what, he would never go back on that opinion…no matter what it cost him.

Facts were facts. To start over, he'd need a realm populated only by those under one hundred. Dornes was one hundred and forty, and Keichi had turned two hundred a few years ago…he wiped again at the moisture in his eyes. Bloodline was no excuse for special treatment…it couldn't be avoided just because they were his own children. Besides, the pain they'd feel if they learned what had happened to their mother…at least he could spare them that.

He took the stairs back up one by one, as slowly as he could…he didn't have to rush it, but he couldn't allow himself to stop. In order to gain, something must be lost…and for great gains, great losses must be sustained…

He pushed the door open. Dornes was standing right in the middle of the room, and Keichi, in the corner that curved around into the hallway…they stood perfectly still, staring straight up at him. He could tell that they hadn't moved or said a word for quite a while.

"…Dad?" said Dornes, barely able to choke out a sound. "What's happening down there? What's…going on?"

Moloch sighed. "Don't be scared, Dornes. It's all right. Everything's going to be fine…both of you, come here."

Dornes came walking over instantly, but Keichi stayed put. She looked just as confused and scared as her brother, but something else coloured her expression, as well…something her mother and brother lacked. In her eyes were the faintest hints of suspicion. She was a smart girl, that Keichi…she was a lot like him, in that way. Poor, motherless Keichi…poor, poor children…

"Dad…where's mom? What's happening?" said Dornes, his voice wobbling. Moloch bent down and hugged his son one final time, scythe still in hand…he had to fight to keep the wobble out of his voice.

"I'm sorry, you two…I swear, I will make Shoboro pay for causing it to come to this…

Keichi ran screaming down the hall as when she realized what was happening…but it was a dead end, and she'd have no way to escape when it was her turn. If only she'd come when asked…the amount of fear she must be feeling could only be excruciatingly painful, and he would've preferred it to be quick, before she even realized what was going on, like he'd been able to do for Dornes. It was painful enough as it was…


	32. Toll

Moloch sat and waited on the steps, listening to the last of the noises below dying down. Soon enough, his shinigami started flowing into the hall, filling it with the echoes of their meaningless babbling…

"So far so good, Moloch! We got them all!"

"They didn't get the chance to cut any of us down. We acted fast, just like you said…"

"…looks like we're…holy shit! Look at this place!"

"Moloch? What's with all the…what went on here?"

"…_covered_ with sand! What the hell happened?"

"Was it Shoboro's shinigami? How many _were_ there?"

"Must have been a lot, for there to be this much sand…how are you even still alive?"

Moloch had been holding back until just this moment…sometimes, playing the part wasn't about suppressing emotions, but about using them to make a performance more convincing. In his opinion, when he spoke, all the sorrow and anger he was feeling coloured his voice in a magnificently convincing way…

"Shoboro…and about three others…I couldn't stop him. He set the other three on me, I couldn't fend them off in time…Arva…the children…to 'pay for your impudence', he said…"

The entire hall fell silent, watching Moloch sit in a tight ball on the steps. Finally, one lone, timid voice whispered, "…what did he do?"

Moloch was delighted with the scream of rage that naturally flew out of him. A nice, simple, believable story, made all the more believable by the natural emotions he already possessed, that would lead naturally into the next part of the plan. "He killed them! The bastard killed them! Right in front of me! He killed my mate right before my eyes, while I tried to fight my way through to her…and by the time I'd gotten past the attackers, it was still too late…I couldn't get to the children in time…I could only listen to them scream…by the time I got to the room, he was just standing over their sand piles, grinning at me…he wouldn't even face me, after what he'd done, the coward…disappeared…if knew where the hidden passages in that hall were, you have my word he wouldn't be alive right now…"

The entire hall gasped and roared in outrage as one. Moloch tried not to smile…they were lapping it up. Ah, yes…that was the exact tone he wanted from them, cries of "murdering scum" and "get him", along with the occasional "what do we do now, Moloch…?"

Moloch held up a hand. "It's become personal, now…I can never forgive Shoboro, after what he's done to my family, and after what he's threatened to do to yours. Listen carefully, because we must act quickly…as he stood laughing over the remains of my children, he said that everyone else's families would be next. He's rounding up his remaining supporters…they're coming after your young ones right this minute!"

Yes, yes…perfect. Fear, panic…the shinigami were shouting at him, frantically, pleading to him to tell them what to do…he had to make them act, now, before they had time to think…

"Now that he's shown what he's truly like, we can't tolerate Shoboro's existence any longer…we need to eliminate him, before any more families meet the fate that met mine, at his hands…go, now! Once again, it's us or them! We must save our young ones, before it's too late! Go, now! Your targets are Shoboro's followers! As King, I once again justify the use of lethal force, as this is an emergency! FIND THEM ALL, QUICKLY!"

The shinigami ran out of the hall, screaming with rage…stupid saps. This was getting all too easy.

---

"Justin?" said Fedor, poking him awake. Justin slowly opened his eyes…why was it so dark?

"Justin…the fire went out."

Justin and Fedor had brought the blanket down with them to the fire pit in the main room of the cave, to wait for mom and dad to get back. When they weren't both awake and toasting nuts over the fire, they'd taken sleeping, keeping watch and putting more wood on the fire in shifts…while Justin had slept, the fire had died down to just a couple of glowing embers.

"Aw, Fedor…why'd you let it go out?"

"It's not like I let it on purpose. There wasn't any more wood left."

Fedor was right. Even in the dim light the embers were casting, Justin could see that the huge wood pile was completely gone. Briefly, he wondered how long it had taken to burn it all away…he'd stopped paying attention once they'd passed the ten-hour mark.

"What do we do now, Justin?" said Fedor. "It's gonna get real cold again, without a fire…Mom and Dad said us little guys have to be careful about cold...only big shinigami don't die…"

"…I dunno, Fedor. I guess…I guess we better go find them so they can start it again," said Justin.

"…I guess."

The two little shinigami stared up at the door in the ceiling of the cave…it was far too high up for either of them to reach. Fedor spread his small, undeveloped wings and flapped desperately as he jumped up and down under the door, trying to reach it…

"Hey, Fedor…I think this might help…" said Justin, picking up an empty shell from a shenzu nut and scraping it along the floor, gathering up a small pile of dirt at Fedor's feet. "If we can make a big enough pile, maybe you'll be able to reach…"

Fedor grabbed another shell, and the two of them worked for hours, piling up the dirt on the cave floor until it was taller than they were. Fedor jumped up and down on top of the pile, swiping at the handle on the door and knocking it open inch by inch, until it was open wide enough for them to fit through. Cold swirled down through the opening…but it wasn't the same biting cold they'd gotten used to. It seemed…milder. Lessened, somewhat.

"…do you think we need the cloaks?" asked Fedor.

Justin looked over at the crumpled cloaks in the corner. "…they're way too big for us…we wouldn't be able to walk in them, if we did wear them. We should probably just find Mom and Dad quick, and get back inside before we get too cold."

Fedor jumped up, grabbed the door, and after a minute of straining and pulling, he finally managed to heave himself up out of the cave. He reached down so Justin could grab his hand, and pulled him up out of the cave after him.

"…so…"

"You go that way. I'll go the other way. If we find Mom and Dad, or get too cold, we come back to the cave," said Justin.

"…you think we'll find them?"

"Yeah, sooner or later. There's only so much shinigami realm…they're around here somewhere, if we look hard enough…"

"…Good luck."

"You too."

With that, Justin and Fedor turned around, and stumbled off in opposite directions over the frozen carbon dioxide crystals.

---

The ice had all melted from this place, and now, only gravel was crunching under Nu's feet as she stumbled forward, water streaming from all of her eyes. No matter where she went, no matter where she ran to, she couldn't escape it. She could see for miles, hear everything that was happening, every scream, and every cry for mercy, every footstep and wing flap that Moloch's supporters took…this was the curse of her impossibly acute senses…

Long ago, her father had explained to her what super-sensory perception was. It was the astounding keenness of the senses, sight and hearing far stronger than that of the average shinigami…it was what allowed him to see exactly how the "shenzu" trees of death had grown, and what had made him capable of taking the wood from them and arranging it with the methodical precision necessary…what allowed him to turn them into the "death notes" so indispensable to shinigami kind.

Shenzu trees… "shenzu," he father had told her, was derived from a human word for "demon," and the nickname had stuck. Old Sidoh had laughed, when he'd told her that… "How fitting," he'd said, "considering how the humans would view us if they only knew of our existence."

Her father had been the only one who knew what it was like, having senses so keen. All her life, he'd never talked above a whisper in her presence. "Poor child," he'd said, at least a hundred years ago. "Your perception is more of a curse than a blessing. I could tell as soon as you hatched, as soon as I saw the eyes that covered your body…I may as well be blind and deaf, compared to you. You've told me before, that you can see the King's tower from here, even though it's a hundred miles away. I can hear everything that goes on in there while I'm inside it…but you can probably hear everyone in that tower right now, can't you?"

"Yeah," Nu had muttered, as quietly as she could, but she couldn't do it as quietly as Old Sidoh, and she'd winced at the loudness of her own voice. It made her ears ring.

Old Sidoh had sighed sadly. "Even I can only imagine what it must be like for you."

She was fine with him only being able to imagine…he didn't deserve the pain her senses brought her on a daily basis. She wouldn't play with the other young shinigami; she couldn't…the sounds of their laughter, their loud, exuberant voices, exploded like sonic jet engines in her ears, amplified so loudly that she thought sand would gush from her ears with the pain of it. Even being around adults was painful… her own mother didn't truly understand how sensitive she was to sound, making Nu wince in pain ever time she spoke. Nu avoided other shinigami at all costs, and she did it well…few of them even knew that Old Sidoh had a daughter. It wasn't as though Nu liked being alone…being around other shinigami was simply too painful to bear. Save for one. Her father was the only one who understood…the only one who never failed to speak to her softly enough that it didn't hurt, so softly that the other shinigami thought he was saying nothing, and Nu was simply lip reading. He always knew when another shinigami was about to speak, was always there to warn to shut her ears. She'd followed him everywhere, sitting quietly by his side as he made the death notes …she'd even occasionally braved places like the tower to follow him, when she could hear that it was mostly empty. Such was her loyalty to her father, the only one who understood…her only friend, the only one she could enjoy being around in this world full off bludgeoning, piercing sounds.

In an ultimate show of loyalty, she'd even followed him to those underground tunnels, full of shouting adults…only because of what he'd overheard, and what it meant for the both of them. Nu had nearly cried with relief when Old Sidoh wasn't chosen to go to the tower, but her relief hadn't lasted long. He'd sat with her as the battle in the tower went on, and she'd had no choice but to overhear…by then, she had started to build up some tolerance, and could stand the sound of her own voice. As the battle went on, she'd whispered to him what was happening…

"Shinigami are screaming…I hear metal crashing into rock…you know that sound that most shinigami make, father? That beating sound…do they have hearts?"

"I know what you mean, Nu. We speak metaphorically of shinigami having hearts, but we can't cut one open and see if they do without them collapsing into a pile of sand…they might, or it might simply be the sound of sand swirling around in a living shinigami…but I know what you mean."

"Well, I hear metal crashing into rock, and then the thudding sounds stop and slosh onto the floor when the shinigami screams. …What's wrong, father?"

"…Keep going, Nu…do you hear Moloch? I need to know what he's doing."

"…yes, I hear him. He's talking to his mate…she says he killed them…he killed them? Father?" she'd whispered, surprised, as he'd taken her hand.

"I think Shoboro needs to hear what you're hearing right now, Nu…" Sidoh had muttered back, looking grim.

But they didn't get far. Nu had continued to tell Old Sidoh what was happening as they flew…he'd blanched when she repeated what Moloch's supporters, and what Moloch himself, was saying…that they were all dead, every single one…Moloch's lie…his supporters were coming, so brainwashed that they'd done the impossible…and were about to do it again, to every other shinigami in the realm.

They'd flown as fast as they could, but Sidoh fitted his nickname…he was incredibly old…too old. It wasn't long before five of Moloch's supporters were gaining on them.

"They're not near enough to see who we are, but I can hear them coming…what do we do?" she'd whimpered, wanting to scream, not daring to because she knew it would hurt…

Old Sidoh had sighed, and pulled her down to land. "There's nothing for it," he'd said. "We're not going to make it to Shoboro in time. They're nothing I can say to make them spare me now; he's got them too worked up. But if you hide now…go, Nu. Once they're finished with me, they'll get distracted and fly off, and you'll be safe."

She'd hid behind a nearby rock. She'd listened as the five yelled at her father, demanding he tell them were Shoboro was…listened to the sound of metal crunching into rock when he'd told them they were fools for listening to Moloch. Again, bit back her screaming.

Now, she simply wandered the realm, tears streaming from her eyes, listening to them doing the same thing to everyone else. She couldn't block it out; she couldn't ignore it…even if she hummed to herself so loudly that it boomed in her ears, she could still hear it.

That's why she was wandering over to the vents. Huge holes in the ground, that had been spewing forth ice for years in thunderous eruptions. Her only hope was that they would be loud enough…loud enough to burst her eardrums, and make her deaf forever. The pain would be worth it…it couldn't be worse than the pain she felt now, listening to them all die.

Something was different, though. There was no ice surrounding the holes anymore, and the gravel was warm under her feet. The vents were silent right now, but deep below the surface, she could hear them rumbling…they would erupt again. All she had to do was wait. And wait. The distant, clear screams were starting to become fewer in number…was she going to have to listen to every shinigami in the realm die before the vents awoke? Sadly, the answer seemed to be yes…it took hours, but finally the screams faded to nothing. She listened as Moloch's supporters gathered at the tower…they were the only adults she could hear in the realm, save for one, still in the underground tunnels…Shoboro, waiting for someone to report back. She listened as Moloch spoke. He'd been making the rounds, too, causing a lot of the screams she'd heard…

"One of them confessed to me! I know where Shoboro is hiding! Follow me! Quickly!"

Nu listened as they took off as one, and realized with horror that they were heading toward the vents…oh, no. It was so flat around the vents…once a shinigami was in the air, they didn't need any special perception to see from the vents to the tower and back, and they'd catch her if she flew off…she wouldn't get anywhere walking, they'd be here too fast for that…she only had one line of defence.

Nu had figured out the trick for herself early on, trying to avoid curious stares and shouted questions when young shinigami walked by…she opened her eyes wide, completely unblinking, until they stung…it helped that they were already watery, and therefore somewhat reflective. There were advantages to being covered with large eyes… they were almost like mirrors. From a reasonable distance away, the reflections of her surroundings in her eyes worked as excellent camouflage. Not one of the hundreds of shinigami paid her any notice when they touched down.

"He's hiding in one of the vents! Flush him out! Flush him out now!" Moloch shouted. Waves of shinigami poured into the colossal vents, not pausing to think…even Nu, young as she was, understood the concept of momentum, and Moloch was using it exceptionally well. As for the stragglers…

"But…what if they...the vents could blow any time, Moloch!"

"They're safe for a few more days…that's why Shoboro's taking refuge in them, no shinigami would think to look there, because of the danger…quickly! We must find him, before he escapes!"

The last shinigami jumped in, save for Moloch…Nu's eyes only opened wider when he brushed the dirt off a lever hidden in the sand and pulled, and thick swirls of metal contracted shut over the vents, blocking them off. Nu remembered Moloch suggesting they block the vents…Shoboro had refused, on the grounds that all signs pointed to the death trees needing the cold spells to stay healthy…apparently, he'd done it anyway, secretly…

Moloch's latest lie became apparent when Nu both felt and heard something rush up under the ground…blasting, radiating heat. So, it was as Rhyinn had predicted…after the cold spells, the vents would produce heat, as well. The confused shouting inside the vents was abruptly silenced. The screams were cut off by a roaring, furnace-like sound in mere milliseconds.

"…Well. That's the hard part, done with…" Moloch sighed; taking a step backward…he jumped and looked down at the thing that bumped against his leg. Nu recognized the little shinigami…she almost groaned in despair for him. Armonia Fedor Beyondormason had crept up behind Moloch to get a better look at what was going on, but what he'd seen had frozen him to the spot, and now he was staring up at Moloch, wide-eyed with terror…

"…What are you doing here, you little whelp?" Moloch growled.

"…Mr. Moloch…you…is that what you did to Mom and Dad?!" Fedor yelped, scrambling backward, biting his own fingers in near-hysteria…

He screamed when Moloch grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and hoisted him into the air.

"You sorry little being…what do you do that for? I _hate_ having to do this to young ones, but it's too late, if you've seen…your mother would be disappointed if she knew that you made me dishonour her dying wish…"

Nu couldn't close her eyes, or her cover would be blown. She couldn't block her ears, either…why, yet again, did it have to be her? Why was she the one forced to listen, to watch, as Moloch drew his scythe hand back…?


	33. The rest of the story: outline part 1

Hello, everyone. It's probably somewhat obvious that I haven't updated this story in a long, long time. As you can see, it's also a long, long, story, and I'm proud that before exhaustion and life got in my way, I wrote a novel's worth of material on this story. However, there's still a long way to go, and I'll be honest and admit that I'll likely never finish.

(Pause for disappointed sighs.)

BUT, dear and loyal readers…if you've read this far and enjoyed my brainchild this much, you deserve to know the ending. I may not have the rest of the story written, but while I was about halfway through, I sat down and worked out an outline of how the story would progress. Some parts of it are quick run-throughs of the general idea of how the scene would have played out, and some parts inspired me enough as I wrote through them that I wrote the entire scene then and there, exactly as it would have appeared in the story. This, presented in three parts, is that outline. I hope it makes sense, as I took some time to read through it again and clarify things that I knew would only make sense to me. I also hope it entertains you, and that it satisfies your desire to know what happens.

(This scene doesn't have a precise place in the order of the narrative, but I knew I wanted to include it. When appropriate, Deridovely would reluctantly complain to Zellogi about how even if they wanted to join Justin, they can't, because the hideout is too well hidden. Zellogi is tempted to tell him where to go, but opts not to blow his cover in case Dovely is caught while trying to reach the caverns.)

Moloch is in the King's room after "killing" all the adults except Shoboro, with Rhyinn being most recent, ready to resume his search, but finds Shoboro has come to him. Shoboro says "I have never been less satisfied to be right in my entire life. Xithl told me to stay away, you know… not to get involved in capturing the rowdy ones…he said my presence would only upset them further. I never should've listened. If I'd been there, I could've stopped you…before you could…" Shoboro stops, regains control. "It's too late for me to save them…to save her…but I _will_ stop you. Right here, right now. This is where it ends, Moloch…"

"What makes you think you can beat me?"

"You made it certain when you killed my mate."

"You're not the only one who has lost something precious today, Shoboro. Because of you, I've had to make sacrifices as well…"

Shoboro notices the three urns filled with sand on Moloch's table.

"Moloch…what have you done?"

Pause.

They fight. Shoboro pins Moloch, and holds a knife to his throat. Moloch begs for his life. Finally, with a heavy sigh, Shoboro drops the knife and cuffs Moloch, and recites the penalty of the Shinigami realm for mass murder with tears in his eyes, but conviction in his voice. "Moloch, for the crimes of treason and mass murder, it is my authority as King to sentence you to the punishment for these crimes as agreed upon by the citizens of this realm. As King of this Realm, I hearby sentence you to be locked in a cage and buried underground for all eternity, where you can do no further harm to the shinigami I have sworn to serve. This being the will of the shinigami realm, let your sentence being carried…"

But Shoboro is knocked to the ground by Moloch, who, having invented the handcuffs, knows that he can insert a talon into the lock in just the right way to spring it loose. Moloch grabs the knife and slowly pushes it into Shoboro's ribs, laughing with all his might as he watches Shoboro dissolve little by little into sand.

After summoning all the older children and getting rid of them, Moloch wanders the realm, rounding up all the young ones, eggs, and stragglers who didn't come. He finds Micoran picking a shenzu nut off a tree while holding an egg, and goes to kill him…Micoran cries to Moloch to spare him, because he has to take care of his baby sister since daddy didn't come back like he promised. Moloch goes on about how he hates killing young ones, but Shoboro's descendants mustn't live and whatnot…Micoran, realizing what this means, dodges out of Moloch's grasp and tries to run with the egg. Moloch catches him, and he desperately throws the egg over the crest of the hill into the egg pile Moloch has gathered just before he's killed. Moloch, not knowing which egg in the pile is Shoboro's daughter, vows to watch for her after the eggs have hatched, and to get rid of Shoboro's last descendant…

Moloch finds Justin, carrying a death note almost as big as he is and trying to jump into the human world. Justin bursts into tears about how he's hungry and tired and he can't find mommy or daddy or Fedor…

"How old are you?"

"Niney-seven an' a half."

Moloch realizes how smart little Justin is, and knows how useful he might turn out to be…he comforts him, saying that he's going to go find all the adults and everyone else who's gone missing, and until he does, just listen to the King, because "the shinigami will always have a King, even if there is no shinigami to be the King. The King is perpetual."

Moloch goes back to the tower, ready to set up permanently, but he hears something…he goes into the room he and Arva shared for one brief moment and King and Queen, to find a newly hatched shinigami giggling in lieu of crying. He's Arva in miniature, except for Moloch's wide mouth, short spiky hair and feathers on his shoulders. No exception for bloodline, though…Moloch names him according to what Arva wanted, "Ryuk" for a male, and then sets him outside the tower in the path of a group of older shinigami, who find him and carry him over to the egg pile.

Describe in short how Moloch names each shinigami as it hatches, sneaks out of the tower to collect shenzu nuts, prepares them so they aren't recognizable as the things that come from the pods so the shinigami will become dependent on him, and then hands them out as the King. He stops feeding them as they get older and explains that the shinigami stomach has "evolved", and starts teaching them how to kill humans and keep track of their life spans using viewing holes, all the while watching for signs that one of the females is Shoboro's daughter as they mature and become more distinctive. He notes that all the trees seem to be withering and producing less fruit, now that the climate vents are closed...much like Rhyinn predicted they'd do, and why he'd been prohibited from blocking the vents, why he'd built those disks over the holes in secret. On the way back from one of these runs, he also spots Nu; she lies about her age. Moloch asks why she seems so scared of him, and she says that she's not.

"That's right, Nu," he says. "You're not in any danger, and neither is your baby brother. That's him over there…he hatched a few months ago. I named him after your father, since they look so alike." Describe Sidoh toddling around on his oversized feet (and the sticklike arms he shares with Nu?). "He's going to be a very talented runner when he grows up, for him to be walking this early…it's a good thing I'm not dangerous, isn't it, Nu? It would be a shame if I were, because then who knows what would happen to you, and him?"

As they learn to fly, he encourages them to go to the human world to kill humans. However, once shinigami in the human world start dying alarmingly rapidly, he puts in some new rules to limit their stay in the human world, and the rule that shinigami staying in the human world possessing a human must kill said human (to stop the prevalent problem of young shinigami falling in love and then killing other humans to lengthen their human's lifespan). Encourages the use of holes again. While out on a shenzu nut run, he observes a conversation between Justin and Daril:

"Hey," Daril said shyly, walking up to Justin's throne. She'd just started her growth spurt, and could almost look Justin in the eye, even while he was sitting.

"Hey," Justin said after a pause, barely managing to choke the word out. Moloch was surprised to watch the normally well-spoken Justin struggle so.

"Um, so…I hear the King made some new rules?"

"Uh, y-yeah."

"So…what…um, what are they?"

"Well," said Justin, his voice cracking at first, then growing stronger and working its way back to normal, "There are some new rules about being in the human world. First of all…"

Justin explained, Daril thanked him, then they exchange awkward goodbyes before Daril dashed off.

Moloch rolled his eyes. He'd seen that sort of behaviour many times before, and knew exactly what it meant. However, he was glad he'd overheard. If the young shinigami were going to Justin for advice, then perhaps that's why he hadn't seen Shoboro's daughter yet. Also, he knew that he needed to implement a new rule, and soon…

"King" makes some new rules: in addition to saying that shinigami are to come to him for help with any problem first, implements rule (whatever), saying that love is a human weakness that shinigami are above; being immortal, they have no need to reproduce. The timing is to his advantage; right now, the shinigami are either so young that they find the thought of romance disgusting, or are just entering that time when they're insecure and will do anything to avoid looking uncool by "acting human." Now, as he works on that two-way transmitter while watching the holes (where Ryuk has cajoled Rem into playing a video game with him-likely rock band-esque, perhaps playing a song by Misa), have him remark on how Ryuk has always had trouble following the rules…all the times he lied to the King, the tower, the way he keeps looking at the little hellcat when he thinks she isn't looking… reflects on how he should've been more suspicious of Ryuk, but wasn't, because he just couldn't imagine that Ryuk could ever have anything to do with helping Rem, because he's Moloch's son…then reflects on how foolish thinking like that was. After all, bloodline is worthless. Moloch wonders if his happiness at finding Rem made him soft for a bit. (He did let his standards slide a bit then, trading death notes for apples.)

Ryuk and Rem come out of a theatre, talk about how it's kind of neat, those plays where the humans sing half the time. (Ryuk wanted to watch something that they'd both enjoy, for a change.) Rem thinks about the human mother in the play, and realizes she's…envious. How wonderful it would be to share a blood-deep connection with another being, to love and be loved so incredibly much…maybe that was why she'd grown so attached to Misa. Just having a connection to another feeling, sentient being…she longs for that sort of thing. They remark on how it's gotten cold again; they've been in the human world for an entire year. Ryuk goes for a slide on the ice, and drags Rem along with him. Of course, right about then the hunters show up, and they get chased (Daril pounces Rem, but she doesn't know about ice and slips, and winds up pinned by Rem, who picks her fallen knife up off the ice…and simply stabs it into the ice with the handle pressing down on the chain on Daril's headpiece so she can't get up for a while); Ryuk and Rem fly straight through the ocean while intangible, leaving no trace b/c the water molecules dissipate too fast to leave one. However, to their horror, the hunters catch up anyway; they hide, and the hunters are so close they can overhear them.

"What makes you think Ryuk and Rem are near here, Daril? I mean, they flew through miles of ocean, and they could've come out anywhere…

"They only could've flown so far through the ocean, staying intangible for a long period of time is a lot of work. After that, they probably came back out and started flying through the air, and judging by the strength and direction of the air currents, they would've wound up somewhere near here."

"Geez, Rem! No matter what we do, they're right behind us…this has gotta be the seventh close call in a row! Why can't we shake them anymore?"

"Did you hear Daril taking about air currents? She's starting to understand how the human world works...they're catching up to us, in that respect."

They didn't say anything more…there was nothing to say, really, with the implication of what Rem had said already hanging heavy in the air.

Due to the "dear death notes" that Midora and Zellogi have left, Justin and co. now know exactly when the King is usually responsive, and therefore somewhat mentally occupied and not moving around. They choose this time to move. Justin and co. have burrowed under the King's tower and come up in the cathedral-room. Justin goes alone, with a knife taken from one of the captured King's guys, and stained black from dust so he'd be better camouflaged. He touches a picture that looks familiar, and it lights up and displays what looks like a family tree. He goes up the hole in the wall, and finds Nu. Bit about Justin looking a bit like Xithl, being stained black like that…only Xithl had fewer jewels, and Justin still looks like polished metal, whereas Xithl was like wire. More about her knowing the tower fairly well, having come there with her father to deliver death notes. (BTW, Justin might have a vague feeling that's he's been here before as well; after all, he has been.) Justin tells her that the plan is to take all the King's weapons so he doesn't have any more to give his supporters. Nu offers to lead him there, and tells him she can hear the King, and will lead him so that they don't run into him. As Justin leaves with the last load, along with some shinigami who decided to help, he asks Nu if she's going to come down and stay with them permanently…Nu says no, she prefers to be alone. King finds weapons missing…decides that this is it. It's time to prioritize; although he wants the capture of Ryuk and Rem more than anything, Justin is starting to interfere with his plans, and playtime is over for him and company. (Also bit about how it's obvious that he can't trust anyone after all, b/c so many shinigami turned against him even after being conditioned for loyalty since infancy.)

A shinigami is sent to collect Daril, fills hunters in on what's happening in Shinigami realm + saying the King wants her help with the Justin situation. Sidoh is understandably scared to be tracking on his own (not to mention Kinddara), and Daril tries to bargain her way out of it...but orders are orders, "don't shoot the messenger" and whatnot. She reassures Sidoh the best she can, tells him to keep after Ryuk and Rem while she's gone, and reluctantly flies off. Ryuk and Rem jump into a mountainside just in time as Sidoh and Kinddara go by; they notice that Daril is missing-is she gone, or is this a trap? However, they know that they can't keep running forever; and they decide that this pretty much the only time they can make a move, while the brain of the operation might be gone. It would be best to go rejoin Justin in the shinigami realm, but they need to know what's going on up there first…they try to come up with a plan (WWLYD-What Would Light Yagami Do?)

Sidoh and Kinddara come upon identical sets of prints, Ryuk's and Rem's that branch of into two pairs. Sidoh takes one direction, Kinddara takes the other. Ryuk and Rem are watching, and head off after Sidoh. They corner him, Rem pretends to be the crazy version of herself that the King painted her as, and they scare Sidoh into telling them that Justin and co. haven't been found and no one knows where they're hiding, but a lot of King's supporters have gone missing; and the King's weapon room was completely cleaned out somehow, so the King summoned Daril to go help him up there. He also tells them that in addition to the shinigami who go looking for Justin's hideout, there are shinigami who go collect shinigami the hunters catch, and shinigami who guard the entrance to the human world so no one else tries to run away. They shackle Sidoh to a tree and leave him there after taking another set of shackles and his knife (Sidoh picks the lock with his fingers and tucks the shackles away, only to realize that "Hey! My Death Note's gone!); celebrate their success…now they just have to think of a way of getting back into the shinigami realm.

"How are we going to get back into the shinigami realm?" said Rem. "We can't just fly up…we'd be out in the open for miles, and the hunters would spot us with no trouble at all. Even if they didn't, there are shinigami guarding the entrance to the human world, and they're sure to recognize us."

"To tell the truth, I think the only way we're ever going to see the shinigami realm again is if the hunters escort us there as prisoners. Beats the hell out of me how else we'd…that's it!" Ryuk whispers the idea in an off-screen manner, revealing that he also stole Sidoh's death note so he didn't have to share with Rem all the time, and now that they can use it in his plan. Rem says it sounds risky, but no riskier than staying down in the human world, and it's the best plan they've got…with a bit of refinement, it might work. Rem points out the flaws, and comes up with a final plan that sounds workable to both of them. Ryuk and Rem decide to set a plan in motion while Daril's still up in the shinigami realm and the hunters' collective IQ is much lower, and more likely to fall for a trick.

Daril comes up to the shinigami realm, to find that the King has left the tower and has led all his followers to her in person. He gives her the data, lets her mull it over for a bit…she easily concludes that Justin is using underground tunnels, and judging from the locations and dates of the disappearances (put in logical places for Justin to have made a tunnel entrance, such as in the middle of a human world viewing hole field, a grove of apple trees for all the shinigami who twist up without them, etc…), and the date of weapon thievery, she concludes where the entrances must be…meanwhile, Zellogi and Midora have run off, on their way to warn Justin and co. that Daril has figured out where the tunnel entrances are and the tunnels are about to be stormed.

"Oh, shit. We're really boned now, aren't we, Mimi?"

"I know I said the next time you called me 'Mimi' I'd beat the crap out of you, but that'll have to wait until after we warn Justin. Come on!"

Justin tells them to get out of the tunnels ASAP, and to regroup at…but then the tunnels are swarmed with the King's forces, and everyone's forced to bolt before he can finish. Justin gets out of the caverns and flies for a bit, and he gets as far as the bowl-shaped valley with the thousand-foot cliffs before Daril leaps out in front of him. They fight, Daril wins, and she takes him to the King's tower, only to be horrified when she sees that Justin's supporters are being caged up, and some who are resisting are being beat up. "Is that necessary?" she asks a shinigami who's doing so. "Didn't you hear the Old Man yelling? He said to get them into cages, no matter what, even if you have to beat them senseless. Either that, or he'll beat you senseless himself before throwing _you_ in a cage." She sees Thruk and Vechello caged up, asks where Calikarcha is… "He's gone, Daril. Every guy you caught down there got brought in the tower, and once they go in, they don't come out again."

"Oh, come on. Since when do you buy into rumours like…"

"It's not a rumour, Daril. I was there when the old man said it himself," Deridovely piped up.

Justin gets grabbed away from Daril by the King.

"I suppose this is the part where I die."

"Not quite yet. Some of your supporters escaped, and they'll be curious as to whether or not you were really caught…whether or not I really have you chained to a stake in front of my tower…curious enough to come see for themselves. And perhaps foolish enough to try and rescue you, if you're still yourself and not a pile of sand. You'll need immobilizing, though."

"Ah. The wing plate?"

The King chuckled. "Silly Justin. You stole all of those, remember? I don't have any left. It doesn't matter, though…they were really only for aesthetic reasons. This will be much more effective at slowing you down."

The King dug his nails into the spot between Justin's wings. Justin winced, but the shout he let out was mostly surprise as opposed to pain, because his wings sprang out involuntarily. The King let go of his back, grabbed his wings and held them out as he raised the scythe with his other hand…

This time, Daril didn't just feel churning in her stomach. She felt acid rise up in her throat, and the image burned itself into her retinas even though she closed her eyes before she could witness it. She didn't have to see it to know exactly what it looked like…and she knew she'd hear that scream again whenever she chose to sleep, in her nightmares.

Bit where Ryuk and Rem are about to hatch their master plan. Ryuk asks if Rem is sure that the death note is still technically Sidoh's. "Yes. Ownership of a stolen death note transfers to the thief only if the original owner dies, or the death note remains in the thief's possession for 490 days."

"Good."

Silent pause.

Rem says, "If this doesn't work, and this is the last time we see each other…I…I…you were good company."

"There you go again, Rem. You're smarter than you give yourself credit for, you know that? You've got a good plan; it would probably work even if it weren't Sidoh and Kinddara we were talking about here."

"…It's not that good. Daril Ghiroza would see right through it."

"So? She's not going to be around when it happens, and if she is, we just forget the whole thing and sneak away."

"It might not be that simple…she'd probably turn my plan against us so we'd be captured…she's never almost been murdered by a human."

"It's really annoying when you do that, you know. Light didn't almost get you because you're stupid; he almost got you because you got emotional about your human. You've been around long enough, you've seen shinigami like Gelus and all these humans-I thought you would've realized it by now. Shinigami or not, you can control your emotions by being smart about as easily as you can teach an apple to tap dance by waving lemons at it, so stop pretending you're stupid just because he knew you didn't want Misa to die. You don't have to be some super-smartass like Light Yagami to come up with a working plan. You're plenty sharp enough on your own. If you want proof, just look at how long you've kept the both of us alive."

"Actually, you've been responsible for keeping us alive most of the time…you're the one who always reacts before they find us…"

"That only happens sometimes. The day-to-day stuff, about not leaving traces and moving around so they don't find us in the first place-that was all you, and you did one hell of a job."

"…Thank you."

"And if we do die, it's not a really big deal. How did that dude in the play put it… 'life is pleasant, death is peaceful, it's the transition that's the problem'?."

Giggles and etc.

They shake hands, do the "good luck" thing, but Rem still can't shake the thought of "what if this is the last time we see each other…", so she goes for the hug. Of course, Ryuk feels like his face has been lit on fire, but what's he supposed to do, shove her away? Eventually, he awkwardly returns it, and they go their separate ways to start the plan off.

Sidoh and Kinddara track Ryuk and Rem to a warehouse, when they see a human girl pick up a scrap of paper. She seems to see Sidoh and runs away screaming, and they follow her into a warehouse, where she's threatened by a man with a gun…Rem appears, shouts something about saving the girl, and writes the man's name down in Sidoh's stolen death note before disappearing in a puff of sand. Ryuk follows after, sees the death note in a pile of sand, "Oh, man. She did it again…what was with you and humans, you idiot?" Picks up the note…gets cuffed by Sidoh. "Quit stealing my death note, Ryuk!" Sidoh complains as he takes it back.

Meanwhile, Daril reflects on the difference between empathy and compassion, and how having to know her prey and get into their minds and know how they're feeling (empathy) has unwittingly led to the incorrect but commonly believed definition of empathy (compassion)...i.e., she feels horrible about doing all this, but can't believe it and has no idea why. Brings Justin a cigarette and lights it for him. Justin asks why the King hasn't started killing the rebels, and Daril tells him they captured Ryuk, and Rem's dead, so he's postponed the killing until the rest of the hunters get back up. He asks Daril why she seems so down…after all, her targets have been captured, her side won…Daril relates her suspicions about the King; letting Kinddara go when her crime was the same as Rem's, why he's so secretive about his reasons for wanting Ryuk captured, the fact that everyone she caught has been killed for minor crimes and that the King didn't tell her it was happening…and about the time Rem pinned her down, had her knife…and didn't kill her. With all the evidence she's seen, the only logical conclusion she can come to is…

Daril didn't say what the conclusion was, however. Instead, she said, "Dammit…we're shinigami…we're not supposed to die! It's supposed to be the other way around!" Her speech dissolved into unintelligible mumbling that sounded strangely like sobs…moisture was leaking from her eyes…with a jolt, Justin realized that those _were_ sobs. Daril Ghiroza…_the_ Daril Ghiroza, the huntress…was…was _crying._

Justin hadn't even known that shinigami _could_ cry.

Sidoh and Kinddara bring Ryuk up through the entrance to the realm; Daril's waiting to meet them. Kinddara runs off right away when she sees Daril, but everyone still looks petrified.

"What's the matter with them?" Sidoh whispered.

"They're scared."

"Really? Uh oh…w-what's going on?"

"You're here. You're a hunter, Sidoh."

"Huh? That doesn't…wait, you mean a tracker, right?"

"No. You're a hunter. They're afraid of you."

Sidoh hardly believes his ears. He turns to Deridovely and says "boo," and he flinches. Sidoh grins from ear to ear. He giggles.

"Don't," said Daril. "Please…just don't." For the first time, Sidoh notices that Daril seems really down…downer than he's ever seen her.

"What's the matter, Daril? We caught Ryuk, and Rem's…oh. Is it because Rem died before we could catch her?"

By this time, they're back by the tower, and standing next to Justin.

"No, it's not because of Rem." (Daril doesn't say it out loud, but she doubts that Rem is actually dead. The interrogation of Sidoh by a wild and crazy Rem who claims to have killed Gelus (King's version), then Rem supposedly dying by saving a human girl (actual version)…that just screams of inconsistency, and something's up…but to her own mild, sad surprise, Daril finds that she doesn't care. She doubts Rem's death or survival will make any difference in the events to come.)

"Then what is it?"

"Nothing."

King gives keys to Daril and tells her to lock Ryuk up.


	34. The rest of the story: outline part 2

A mysterious shinigami that no one recognizes flies up into the realm, and they ask who it is.

"Name's Korok, remember?"

"No. Are you with the King?"

"Yeah."

"I don't remember you seeing you around…you sure you're with the King?"

"Look, is this proof enough?" Shinigami takes out knife and a pair of shackles.

"Well, whatever."

Shinigami goes up to the tower to talk to Daril Ghiroza, who's sitting morosely by Justin. Daril thinks she sees a flicker of shock run across the shinigami's face when it sees Justin, but it quickly conceals it.

"Hey."

"Hi," said Daril, as listless as it was possible to be. "Who're you?"

"Name's Korok. Where's Ryuk?"

"Down in the tower dungeons."

"I didn't know the tower had dungeons."

"Neither did I, until now."

"Well, can you tell me where they are? I'm supposed to take Ryuk out and bring him to the old man so he can be punished."

"Last cell, at the end of the hall, through that door," said Daril, pointing to a door on a far-off corner of the tower. "Here. You'll need this key to unlock the door, and this one to open Ryuk's cell. I see you have a pair of shackles so he doesn't get away."

"Yep," said the shinigami, taking the keys before heading toward the door.

"By the way, Korok…would you do me a favour?"

"…What kind of favour?"

"Just a little one. If you see Rem, will you please tell her that her hair's sticking out from under Korok's mask?"

The shinigami stiffened. She felt at the back of her neck, and then hurriedly stuffed the purple tresses back into the rubber mask over her head.

"So, what happens to me now?"

"You hurry up and get Ryuk like you're supposed to, Korok. Good luck."

Rem stands uncertain for a moment, then goes into the room, and Sidoh says to Daril,

"So…is this some kind of plan? We're gonna capture her, right?"

"No."

"Huh? Why not? The King said…"

"The King says a lot of things, Sidoh. I don't believe any of them anymore."

Rem goes down and unlocks the cell, takes off her mask. There's an explanation of their plan: Ryuk wrote in his death note "A young girl picks up a piece of paper outside 1122 Bridge Lane warehouse at 10:22 a.m., and sees a horrible phantom. Panicking, she runs into the warehouse, where she meets Mortimer Hallinger, who is currently suicidal and hallucinating due to a strong dose of meth. He raises his gun to kill the girl before killing himself, but she stalls for time by trying to talk him out of it, and he dies of a heart attack at 10:26 before firing a shot." Thus, it only appeared that Rem died saving the girl, and pretended to write Mort's name at the time he was scheduled to die hours earlier. The girl could see Sidoh, because the piece of paper was from his death note (that Ryuk had stolen.) Ryuk released a sandbag, and Rem dropped through a trapdoor as he did to fake her death. Since Sidoh had never seen a shinigami die, the ruse was enough to convince him. Then, Rem took the knife and shackles they got from Sidoh, put on a disguise, and made her way into the shinigami realm to rescue Ryuk after he was escorted into the realm.

Rem feeds Ryuk an apple b/c she figured he'd need one after this many days. After Ryuk eats it and straightens out,

"Rem, I have no idea what you're doing in a shinigami's body when it's obvious you should've been an angel or something."

"Please-that's not necessary," said Rem, trying to sound stern as usual. It wasn't working, though. Ryuk saw the smile playing at the corners of her mouth. Ryuk would've like to let it stay there a while longer, but what had to be done had to be done.

"Bad news, Rem. Justin's been captured."

"I know. I saw him as I came down here."

"What do we do now?"

'…We're going to have to come up with a new plan, plain and simple. With Justin captured, I think we're the only ones left who can still do something…" Rem says as she pulls out her knife.

"You ain't doing nothin'," says a voice from behind them; Kinddara and a few others. Fight scene, they capture Ryuk and Rem and drag them outside, to see the King holding Daril by her wings.

"Good work, Kinddara. That's what loyalty's all about. As for you, Daril…I'm very disappointed."

Daril looked disappointed, too…and frightened, as she looked up at the King's gleaming metal scythe.

"What do you have to say for yourself, Daril?"

Daril didn't look at the King. She spoke to Sidoh instead.

"Remember what I said earlier, Sidoh. Rem isn't the dangerous one here."

"Daril?"

"I've already had one traitor of high influence set the precedence of punishment…you can have the same as him."

"Daril? Daril?"

As the King brought his scythe up, Kinddara giggled, Justin shut his eyes, and Sidoh screamed, finally realizing what was happening…

"NO! DARIL!"

"I'm afraid so, Sidoh. A traitor's a traitor," said the King.

Daril and Justin are both chained to the stake now, wingless, back to back and unable to turn around.

"I'm sorry," said Daril.

"Sorry for what?" Justin asked.

"It's my fault Ryuk and Rem got caught. I was too busy feeling sorry for myself to think…I should've helped them more…I should've been watching, so I could've gotten away from the King and warned them…" Daril starts crying again. "Everything's my fault. Look at what's happened, all because of me…and what's happened to you. It's all my fault. I'm so sorry."

"Don't beat yourself up, kiddo. You were down in the human world all this time. You didn't know."

"It's still my fault. I'm horrible…look at all this…"

Justin felt her head turn…he turned his head in the same direction, towards the endless rows of caged shinigami. He felt a drop of moisture fall onto his shoulder.

Once again, something lit up in the back of his mind…this wasn't as clear as the memories that had popped up…it was more of a feeling: an instinct, if you would. But it told him what to do just as surely as the clear memories had.

He felt around until he found Daril's hand. Grabbed a hold of it.

"Don't beat yourself up. Ignorance is not a crime."

Daril squeezed back. "I'm scared. I don't want to die. I deserve it…but I'm scared. When do you think…?"

"The King's not using the puppet to speak anymore; he's showed himself to everyone, and he isn't using that paternal tone with us…he's killed about thirty shinigami without concealing it, and he cut our wings off right in front of everyone. He's given up on looking powerful, or benign, and he's relying purely on fear to keep his supporters under control. He doesn't care what we think of him anymore."

Daril's hand started to shake.

"Soon, then," she said.

"Yes."

It wasn't just Daril's hand that was quivering now-he could feel her entire body shivering against his back…

"Buck up, kiddo."

That was what Daril had been telling Sidoh lately, trying to encourage him…so _that_ was where she'd heard it before…

"What's wrong with you, Justin? You shouldn't be trying to console me! You should be furious, you idiot! It's my fault you're going to die!"

"Actually, it's the King's fault. You're claiming far more of the blame than you deserve credit for. He's a master manipulator, that shinigami…I would've done exactly what you did, if I were in your situation."

"Yeah, right. Cut the crap, Justin. You're too smart to fall for him…and you were too brave to give in…"

"Intelligence and bravery have nothing to do with it. Intelligence doesn't count for much when all your information comes from one manipulative source, and I'm no braver than anyone else in this realm. I'm lazy, too…when Ryuk brought Rem down as evidence that his story was true, back when this all began, I would've been properly frightened, but I doubt I would have done anything, if not for…" Justin trailed off.

"If not for what?"

"Nevermind. It's nothing."

"Really? You don't strike me as the sort to organize underground rebellions for nothing."

"…Don't laugh."

"I won't."

"You were too young too have any memories, but I wasn't…I've been doing a lot of thinking back over the last few months, and so many memories have gotten clearer. I remember having a father and mother…if I concentrate very hard, I can hear their voices sometimes. I remember my brother much more clearly…I don't think we were ever apart for our first few decades of life…we played together all the time. We fought a lot, too. Mostly about the solutions to games of hangman. More often than not, we just used those to insult each other. I don't think the fights ever lasted long, though. Usually we'd just collapse into laughing fits. And…I think I remember you, too, only much, much smaller..."

Daril sniffled, but in it, there was a trace of her odd little high-pitched giggle…

"That must be nice, being able to remember all that."

"Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't. It isn't very nice right now…I told everyone I went against the King because I didn't want to die, but the truth is, I did it because I remember having that family, and what it was like to be a part of it…I did it for them, mostly. Because I know the bastard killed them. It feels like I've let them down, in a way."

"You did awesome, Justin. Better than any other shinigami in this realm could've done. They'd be proud of you."

"Think so?"

"Yes."

Pause.

"Are you going to let go of my hand now?"

"Do you want me to?"

"…No. Not really."

"Then I won't."

"Thanks. Thanks a lot."

"No problem."

Deridovely goes to Gukku's cage.

"Hey, dude."

"What do you want?"

"Sorry, man. The old geezer's making us take everyone's death note."

"Yeah? What for?"

"There's gonna be an extreme level punishment…you know, for Rem. I don't know what the old man's gonna do, but he says he needs everyone's death note."

"Give him your note, then, cause I'm not giving mine up."

"He's gonna take mine anyway. _Everyone's _note, man."

"You're still not taking mine."

"Don't do this to me, Gukku. If you resist, I'm supposed to stab you and take your death note when you turn to sand."

"Go ahead. I dare you."

"Really, man…don't make me. Please."

"Drop dead."

Deridovely flinched. "I deserve that," he admitted. "Look, dude, I'm in too deep. The old geezer's probably watching me right now. If I don't do it…"

Gukku didn't answer.

"Fine," said, Deridovely, his pleading expression turning to a scowl. "You asked for it."

Gukku yelped as Deridovely lunged, pressed his back up against the side of the cage toward the tower. Deridovely kept making slashing motions with the knife…but he wasn't even close to touching Gukku with it…

"Scream," he whispered.

"What?" said Gukku.

"Come on, dude! Scream!"

"Oh! AAAAARGH! OOOW!" Gukku yelled, hoping it sounded realistic.

"Now pretend you're hurt!"

Gukku flopped down on the cage floor with a theatrical moan.

"Don't you forget that, you punk!" Deridovely shouted as he kicked some sand into the cage.

Gukku stayed down, covered his eyes in a pained gesture…and felt his death note slip away.

"Hey!" he shouted.

"You're hurt, remember?" Deridovely whispered. "You resisted, so I cut you up bad and took your note. That's the story, so stick to it, okay?"

Deridovely started to walk to the next cage. He looked back at Gukku.

"What the hell, man?"

"Sorry. Really sorry, dude."

Ryuk is chained to a stake miles away from the tower, with Sidoh watching over him. The King comes down. He knows that his policy is that "bloodline is worthless," but…dammit, Arva was a good mate, and he wants to at least do this for her. She'd probably be upset if he simply killed her last baby without giving him a chance at redemption. He tells Ryuk that Rem is about to be killed, and that unlike the rest of the shinigami, he won't make Ryuk watch, because he and Rem seem to have a bad habit of saving each other at the last minute. He says he doesn't blame him for being drawn in by that little hellcat; after all, she can be very persuasive and convincing when she wants. He offers Ryuk a chance to redeem himself and stand with the King once again, but Ryuk just spits on his feet.

"Go to hell, you whack job son of a bitch," said Ryuk.

Moloch watched as his own arm reflexively hit Ryuk in the face with the blunt end of his scythe.

Ryuk wiped the sand off the corner of his mouth. "Ow," he said mildly.

"Pardon me. I meant to say, go to hell, _most great_ whack job son of a bitch."

Well, at least he'd tried, for Arva's sake.

"In that case, I'll be back to kill you after I've disposed of Rem. Watch him until I get back, Sidoh."

On the King's orders, all his (somewhat) supporters are moving the cages. As the last few are being moved, the King grabs the stake Daril and Justin are chained to, and drags them off. (Kinddara can make fun of Daril here, if she wants.) He sets them up just outside one of the recently reopened climate vents…(mention that with mild disgust and annoyance, the King notices that the vents have a layer of glass in them when he opens them…no doubt from the superheating of sand. However, he smiles as he realizes that this is to his advantage: instead of just throwing Rem and the death notes into the pit, he can make her death much slower and more poetic.) He piles up everyone's death notes in the vent (if some escape before he has the chance to kill them personally, at least their lifespans will run out eventually), and then throws a chained Rem down on top of them. He pokes a small hole in the glass with his scythe, and fire strews forth, setting all the death notes on fire as he leaps out.

Meanwhile, Ryuk is lying prone on the ground, chained by his ankle to the stake. Sidoh is thinking about what Daril said.

"You okay, Ryuk?"

"No. Absolutely not. Why would I be okay, Sidoh? Rem's probably dying right now, and I can't do jack about it."

"And you're gonna die soon, too."

"Yeah. I am. Thanks. I almost forgot."

"…Rem's not really crazy, isn't she?"

"No. We were just trying to scare you into blabbing."

"I think Daril thinks the King was lying. I think she thinks Rem was right all along, and that's why she let her down into the dungeons without a fight."

"Bravo, Sidoh. You're getting smarter every day."

"…The King's really gonna kill everyone, isn't he?"

"Yeah."

"…That sucks."

"Yep."

Ryuk plopped his face back down into the dirt. He tried hard to concentrate on apples, remembering the names of the Japanese task force members, his own upcoming death…anything but Rem, or the way the sun glinted off her when it hit at the right angle, or the way she smiled and laughed when he actually got to her with a good joke…or what she probably looked like now. He tried not to imagine her face caked with her own wet, beige sand, or her body hacked unmercifully into bits…

Ryuk heard a 'click' as the pressure around his ankle disappeared.

"Huh?" he said, picking his face up out of the dirt to see Sidoh standing over him, holding an empty shackle.

"What are you doing, Sidoh?"

"I don't know."

"…Why?"

"I dunno that, either. I…"

Ryuk stood up…he didn't exactly know what to do…but he felt what to do. "Sidoh," he said. "Rem wasn't the only one of us with a knife. Before we did that thing with the warehouse, we had two, and we split them up between the two of us. Rem got the one we took from you…and I still have Kinddara's old knife," Ryuk said and he pulled it out from his back feathers. "The one that gave me that scar on my wing when she threw it at me."

"What are you going to do, Ryuk?"

"…The King needs to be stopped, Sidoh. If I can sneak up on him right now, somehow…it might be our last chance."

"…Thanks, Ryuk," said Sidoh. "I…I'd help, but…but…well, you know how I am. I'm just as much of a chicken as I've ever been; the only thing that's changed is that I'll admit it now. I'd probably just screw everything up."

"Thanks, Sidoh. You're still a decent guy, after all."

Ryuk spread his wings and started to flap, but then he stopped.

"Hey, Sidoh…" he said.

"Yeah?"

"You might want to run away, just in case I don't…well, you know."

"He'll find me eventually anyway. He's the King, after all."

"Well, then…do you at least want to make it look like I escaped, instead of you letting me go?"

"That might help. If it was an accident, he might not kill me right away…"

"Okay. Here's the story. It turns out I had a knife hidden on me- that's true, the proof's right in my hand- but what actually happened is that I surprised you with it from behind, slashed you on the wing, and forced you to pick the lock at knifepoint. That way, you also have an excuse for not chasing after me or fighting back."

"Okay."

"If the King comes back here before I do, will you be able to slash your own wing, Sidoh?"

"…No. No, I don't think so."

"Okay. I'll do it now, then."

"Thanks, Ryuk. You're a real pal."

"Don't. You're making me feel like a hypocrite."

Ryuk held out Sidoh's wing…

"Wait! I changed my mind! Don't do it!"

"…Okay. Then you'll do it yourself?"

"No! …Never mind what I said. Just do it."

"Okay."

"No! No! I changed my mind again!"

"Sidoh…"

"Okay, okay, do it."

"Here goes…"

"GAH! Don't do it!"

"Sidoh! Yes or no?"

"…Uh…uh…yes…no…I mean yes..no!..um…"

Sidoh lay on the ground, clutching his bleeding wing.

"Sorry, Sidoh. We don't have time for you to stand around waffling, I had to just do it."

"Owwww….n-no problem. It's probably better that way."

"If I do it, I'll come back right away and patch you up, okay? If I don't, and the old man gets me, this is probably gonna be the first place he comes anyway, so you'll be taken care of somehow."

"Yup," Sidoh groaned.

"You hold that closed, okay? I want you to be alive when I get back."

"Sure thing. Good luck."


	35. The rest of the story: outline part 3

Rem wriggles over to the side of the pit and watches as the death notes all around her light up and start burning, and the glass near the hole starts to melt. She reflects that she was supposed to die twice already…once when she tried to save Misa, and again while she was chained up in the tower. If she could die with dignity then, then she can certainly die with dignity now. But then the flames surround her, and the pain is incredible…much, much worse than being cut with blades…and it takes her a while to realize that she's screaming anyway. Meanwhile, the King is standing up high, laughing as he watches the flames surround Rem and the hole in the glass floor gets larger and larger…Daril's starting to shake again, so Justin grabs her hand again. He looks away from the vent and into the crowd of shinigami, then he looks up to where their eyes are all fixed…it's Ryuk, getting lower and lower, heading towards them…the King notices that something's up, and he starts to look, but right then, Nu pops up right in front of him.

"MURDERER!" she shrieked, and every single shinigami cringed and covered their ears at the sheer volume that came blasting out of the little rock…she sounded like a high-powered jet engine.

"Where the hell did you come from?" the King shouted, though no one heard him through the muffled ringing in their ears.

"YOUR TIME IS NIGH, MOLOCH! LOOK BACK ON YOUR DEEDS AND WEEP, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!"

"Why aren't you in a cage, you little…!"

"SLAUGHTERER OF THE INNOCENT! YOU SHALL PAY!"

The King picked up his scythe and got a firm grip on it…those rocklike shinigami could be tough to cut through…but suddenly, all the wind was knocked out of him. The King dropped his scythe, watched it fall…as he did, he couldn't help but notice the knife that was sticking out from between his ribs. He fell to his knees, looking at it in mild confusion.

Of course, Ryuk dashes off into the flames to get Rem; he rips the heat-softened chains off her, but he doesn't notice until later that he's burned his hands. He gathers her up and flies her out of there just as his feet start slipping when the floor melts underneath them, and flops down on the sand until the feathers on his wings stop burning. Rem's just lying there, covered in translucent glassy patches…

"Damn it, Rem! I just jumped into a fucking pit of fire to save you! If you die anyway, I am going to be SO PISSED at you!"

Rem's eye cracked open just a sliver. "It…hurts…" she whispered, before it closed again.

The King grabs for her, so Ryuk scoops her back up. The King rants and raves for a little while, and then he dies and turns to sand. Nu says something along the lines of "Ow. That was loud," then closes all her eyes and topples over. It's hard to believe, but the cheer that comes from the crowd triples the amount of volume that Nu managed. Daril yells for someone to get the keys out of the King's sand pile and unlock everybody's cages, and they do so; it's a great big frenzy of the King's supporters grabbing for keys and unlocking their buddies (Gukku and Deridovely probably hug when one releases the other), with Ryuk standing out of the way so they don't trample him or Rem. Gukku and Deridovely run up, of course yelling stuff along the lines of "Whoa, Dude! You kick ass! You're fuckin' insane, but you totally kicked ass!"

Someone unlocks Daril, and she turns around and unlocks Justin. They probably do and emotional hug as well, until they see that Nu's about to be trampled and pick her up. Kinddara is just been standing there, watching the King's sand pile blow away in the wind and get stirred up by shinigami grabbing for keys…then she launches herself at Ryuk with the most furious scream anyone's heard yet. Ryuk falls back and out of the way b/c Rem's weight is throwing him off, and this makes it so that Kinddara's making a beeline for Gukku…but Deridovely jumps in the way, and Kinddara slashes him in the throat before dashing away into the desert…

Cut to Ryuk, up in that big rock by with the ledge that looks out on the tower. He's taking care of Rem (found her something soft to sleep on, went and found her a few shenzu nuts), and Justin and Daril come by to say that Deridovely's been taped up with the duct tape that Daril had, Nu's regained consciousness and disappeared again, and they'd like to know how Ryuk got free…

"Well, Sidoh…OH, CRAP! I FORGOT! SIDOH!"

"What?"

"Sidoh! Sidoh's hurt! We gotta…I gotta…but Rem…it…I…!"

Justin didn't wait for Ryuk to calm down and get coherent. "Daril! Take the duct tape and follow Ryuk to where Sidoh is! I'll stay and watch Rem! Go!"

So, they're off…Ryuk takes off right off the ledge, and looks back to see Daril running behind him…oh, right. He lets her ride piggyback; they get to Sidoh, who is a little dizzy from sand loss, but delighted to see that Daril and Ryuk are alive.

Everyone(i.e. Sidoh and Rem)'s feeling in reasonably good health so they head to the front of the tower to hear Justin talk. He says they have two big issues right now-the fact that after the burning, there were only eighty death notes salvaged for about four hundred shinigami, and the fact that they have a murderer (Kinddara) on the loose.

"Well, you should be able to figure something out, shouldn't you, Justin?" said Ryuk.

"It's not my job to figure that out. Now that the Old King is gone, my work here is done. I'll be happy to advise the new King, though, once we choose him or her."

"What are you talking about, Justin? It's obvious the new King's gonna be you," said Daril.

"No. No, it's not."

"Who the hell else would we choose?" said Ryuk. "Come on…who wants Justin for King?"

Justin grimaced as the crowd roared its approval.

"No! I am dead serious, I don't want to be King!"

"Why not?" said Sidoh.

"Haven't you noticed what tends to happen to Kings in this realm?"

"Come on, Justin. That's the lamest argument you've ever made," said Daril.

"Look, it's a lot of responsibility, and a lot of work. I am neither capable nor interested."

"If you're not capable, who is? You've already proven that you can think under pressure, and these are some tough times we're gonna have to get through. We need a King like you."

"We'll even make it official," said Ryuk. "Everyone who wants Justin for King, raise your hand."

A sea of hands shot up into the air.

"There. It's official. You're King, Justin."

"Hold it! I don't…" Justin shouted, but he was drowned out by the collective cheers of the shinigami. With a sigh of exasperation, he waited out the cheering…it went on for at least five more minutes.

"People…please. Now that the King is gone and the danger is past, all I want to do is go back to my chair and my life as usual. I'm sure you can find another perfectly acceptable King…"

"Justin, we don't need a King who's just acceptable…we need a great one," said Daril. "Come on. Who knows the rules of the realm better than you?"

Justin didn't answer.

"I thought so. Does anyone else in this realm have any leadership experience?"

"You do."

Daril snorted. "Me? King? Yeah, right. You didn't buy into the King's crap, and you kept about a hundred shinigami safe and moving forward with plans for months. If you're not good enough to be King, Justin, name me someone who is."

"I am not interested in continuing this discussion any further…"

"Well too bad, because we are. We get that you're not interested, Justin. In my opinion, that's the most important reason for making you King. The best one to trust with power is the one who doesn't want it. It means you have no need and no desire to be worshipped or feared, you have no hidden agenda. You're perfect."

Justin glared at his own feet.

"Justin?"

"Fine," he sighed. "But just for a little while. The instant you call for me to step down, I'll do it."

The cheering broke out again. Justin rolled his eyes.

"All right, all right, enough already."

So Justin goes on and talks about what to do about Kinddara. Rirst of all they need to find her. Sidoh and Daril volunteer to track her down. Justin says that Kinddara's crime was an extreme one, so she'll have to be executed…and since he's King, unfortunately, the duty falls on him, but he refuses to torture anyone. Ryuk volunteers to kill Kinddara instead. "Even if they are evil, psycho assholes, killing another shinigami isn't fun. It…kind of…changes you. It's too late for me, though…I've already done it, so I might as well do Kinddara, too, and save you from having something like..well, you know…on your mind."

"…Ryuk…are you sure?"

"Yeah."

Justin tells the shinigami that until they catch Kinddara, they should stay alert, and try to stay in groups. But before Sidoh, Daril and Ryuk go get Kinddara, Justin leads everyone into the tower to divvy up the remaining death notes to groups of shinigami, and see if that works (having more than one shinigami per death note).

Of course, when the shinigami get into the cathedral room on the way to the death note room, they get curious and start touching stuff, and family trees start lighting up all over the place. (Someone tells Sidoh he has an older sister, and he finds out with some shock that it's Nu…says to Daril he was kind of hoping she was his sister. She says she kind of thought Sidoh might have been her younger brother, but it turned out to be Thruk…she supposes it's just because Sidoh's felt a lot like her little brother lately. Sidoh says he'd be happy to have her for an older sister.) A lot of shinigami want to know who Moloch's kid is, but Justin stops them from touching the portrait. Justin declares that the King's picture will be demolished, as no shinigami deserves to live with the burden of knowing he or she is the spawn of the king. However, out of curiosity, he touches it when he's alone, but Rem comes in while he does…conversation about whether to tell Ryuk ensues.)

Now they're hunting down Kinddara…Daril's riding piggyback on Sidoh's shoulders, and he's running, because neither of them can fly with Sidoh's wing injury. Ryuk is flying, and following behind. They find Kinddara sneaking up on Justin, muttering "not King, not King…vengeance, kill…"

"Okay, Sidoh, on the count of three…"said Daril.

"I don't know if I can do this, Daril," he whimpered. "I can't fight Kindarra…"

"Yes, you can. Now, one, two, three, go! …Go! …Come on, Sidoh!"

Sidoh remained crouched, unspeaking and petrified. Kinddara was right behind Justin's throne, and was slowly rising to her feet.

"We don't have time for this, Sidoh! Come on! Please!"

Sidoh didn't reply, and his eyes remained still and unblinking. Kindarra raised her knife!

"Sidoh! You can't…oh, no…NO!" Daril screamed as she launched herself at Kindarra, knocking her down as she knife stabbed downward, narrowly missing Justin's neck. Justin yelled in surprise, leaping to his feet.

Daril and Kinddara fight, and Daril notices that Kinddara is fighting with the most ferocity she's seen yet, "but she still doesn't have the technique…" This thought is interrupted as Daril falls backward when Kinddara slashes her all the way down her chest. Daril watches as Kinddara moves in for the final blow screaming with a pitch high enough to break glass as she goes in for the kill. Suddnely, Daril hears another roar behind her, a low baritone in comparison to Kinddara's screeching soprano, and watches as a flash of gold flies over her and into Kinddara, knocking her over. Justin crawls back and crouches over Daril defensively, who's starting to bleed heavily. Sidoh snaps at the sight of Daril; he rushes up and attacks Kinddara, wins the fight, pins her down...Daril yells at Ryuk to do it…Ryuk hesitates, but when Kinddara shouts a vow to kill Rem for what Ryuk's trying to do to her, Ryuk does it. Kinddara doesn't die quietly like everyone else; she struggles even as she's dying, and sand flies everywhere. Ryuk and Sidoh have to duck and shield their eyes until it's over. Sidoh rushes over to Daril to ask if she's all right, and watches as Justin duct-tapes her wound up. Daril slowly sits up with Justin's help.

"Daril! Did you see me? I did it! I fought someone! I really fought someone! And I WON!" Sidoh cheered.

Justin scoops her up, and Daril smiles at Sidoh. Her voice is weak and pained, but it sounds very happy nonetheless.

"I always knew you had it in you, Sidoh," Daril whispered.

"Good work…everyone. Thank you. The shinigami realm is in your debt. _I _am in your debt," said Justin.

"Justin…is she gonna be okay?"

"What do you think, Daril? Are you going to be all right?"

"Don't worry, Sidoh. I'll be fine."

"There you have it. I've already got a room for injured shinigami set up in the tower, with food and extra duct tape…she can rest there until she's better."

"Can I come? I'll help…"

"I don't see why not. Are you all right, Ryuk?"

"Yeah."

Ryuk was kneeling in the exact same position from which he'd killed Kinddara, staring at the knife he'd dropped.

"Are you certain?'

"I'll be fine in a minute. Like I told you, killing a shinigami is different from killing a human…it's not fun."

"You've done well, Ryuk. Thank you for shouldering that particular burden."

"No…problem. Anyhow…I should be getting back to Rem. She isn't completely better yet, either."

Ryuk got up and flew off to the rock, while Justin carried Daril over to the tower, Sidoh following close behind.

"Shouldn't Rem be in the recovery room, too?" Daril whispered.

"We offered to move her, but she says she wants to stay where she is," said Justin.

After getting Daril set up and comfortable, Justin goes to check on Deridovely and leaves Sidoh to watch Daril for a bit. Zellogi and Gukku are waiting with Deridovely. They've duct taped him up, but he can't eat, and thus can't get better, and sand still makes its way out underneath the tape. "Isn't there any way of getting food in him?" Gukku pleaded.

Justin couldn't look Gukku in the eye. "…no. If he can't eat, he can't replace the matter that he's losing, and eventually, he will die. The sand is leaving him very slowly, though…he may have a few years left."

Justin, Gukku, and Zellogi jumped in surprise when Deridovely moved, drawing in a rattling, laboured breath through his broken throat; they'd though he was asleep. It took him more than fifteen seconds to draw in enough air to speak.

"I don't wanna wait that long." He sucked in another breath. The trickle of sand running out from beneath the tape increased to a stream whenever he forced himself to breathe or speak.

"Just take the damn tape off."

Gukku looked at him in horror. "No way, man! You can't! You'll die…"

"…quicker. I don't wanna wait years…" Deridovely felt at the sand that was oozing out from underneath his futilely taped throat. "I hate this. I hate how this stupid thing hurts, and if I'm gonna die anyway…get it over with."

"No…no way, man…"

"I'm ready. I did something sort of useful before I died."

There was a long, solemn pause. Finally, Justin spoke.

"You've been thinking about this carefully, haven't you, Deridovely?"

In lieu of searing his throat with more air, Deridovely nodded.

"…I can't deny that you're…probably right. I'm sorry…I'm so sorry I can't do anything to help you. If it's what you wish…then I…I suppose can't let you lie here and suffer for no reason, against your will. Do you want to see anyone else, before…?"

Deridovely smiled. Shook his head.

Everyone stood there for several minutes, saying nothing, not moving.

"Well…?," said Deridovely, semi-annoyed.

Another moment of stillness, then, as slowly as possible, Justin reluctantly began to raise his hand, moving it toward the tape…

"Wait!" said Gukku. "If…if you're gonna…then wait a minute. I gotta tell you something, Der…it's kinda cool. You know what I found out in the tower, in that room with all the portraits?"

"Hm?"

"We…well, we're…we've got the same parents. You're, like…my brother, or something."

"So am I," said, Zellogi, quietly, almost to himself.

"Yeah…the three of us. We're brothers. Who woulda thought, huh?"

Deridovely looked at Zellogi, then back at Gukku, smiling again.

"Cool," he said, with one last breath. There was a long pause, everyone silent.

Justin reached out to put his hand to the side of Deridovely's throat, but Zellogi got there first.

"I'll do it," said Zellogi. "He's my stupid brat of a brother…it should be my job to take care of him, at least once." Zellogi got a grip on the end of the tape. Gukku grabbed Deridovely's wrist, and didn't let go.

Zellogi started to pull on the tape…stopped. Took a moment to build up his willpower, started pulling again…stopped again.

"What's the matter, Zellogi? Chicken?" Deridovely snickered.

Zellogi didn't let himself think, this time. He just looked away and ripped the tape off in one lightning-quick motion, milliseconds before he lost his will and wouldn't be able to do it. Zellogi looked back in time to see Deridovely's shape one last time before it dissolved into a shifting pile of sand and rust with a relieved, ghostly sigh. Gukku watched the handful of sand he was holding slip through his fingers. Zellogi and Justin bowed their heads in silence as Gukku clutched at the side of the table, overcome.

It was the third time in his life that Justin had heard a shinigami cry.

Ryuk and Rem are talking away in the ledge-rock, after Rem reveals she saw the King's family tree.

Ryuk asks Rem a whole lot of questions, rapid-fire, until…

"Who's the King's kid?"

"…It's…"

"Who, whoa, whoa, Rem! I didn't expect you to actually fall for that!...I'm not sure I want to know that…I mean, what if it's someone I know?"

Rem pauses, doesn't answer.

"You can't be serious."

Rem still says nothing.

"Really? Wow." Ryuk looks dumbfounded, takes a while to get his voice back. "So…who is it?"

"Fair warning, Ryuk. If you ask, I will tell you, but you won't like the answer."

"I gathered as much. So, who?"

Rem closes her eye, looks pained. "_You're_ his son, Ryuk."

Ryuk does a twelve-take…

"…That's not funny."

"I know. It's not funny at all."

Ryuk asks if Rem hates him now, and she says no…if she were to hate someone purely on the basis of who their father was, she'd be doing exactly what Moloch did to her. Ryuk isn't Moloch…he's still the same Ryuk who's saved her life more than once. Rem's almost feeling good as new, but she lies down for one more nap. Ryuk watches her, wonders what's going to happen now that it's all over. He and Rem didn't see each other at all before…not until that incident in the human world. Ryuk wonders…things are probably going to go back to normal, just like they're already starting to do…Ryuk will hang out with his buddies, Rem will go do whatever it was she did before, and they'll go their separate ways?

With a horrible, sinking pessimism, Ryuk feels that this will almost definitely be the case. He gets a good look at Rem's face one last time…brushes her hair out of her eyes. Kisses her on the cheek. Jumps away in horror when he pulls back and sees that Rem's eye is wide open. Ryuk stammers out wild apologies…  
"There's no need to apologize."

"I didn't mean!…I was just…wasn't thinking!…huh? No…need…what?"

"In the last nine years, I've been bled to the brink of death multiple times, lit on fire, accused of murder, insanity and self-mutilation…after all that, how could I be offended by something like a kiss?"

"Oh…huh," said Ryuk, stuck for words.

Rem sat up, but she didn't say anything more…Ryuk could tell that she was in one of her thoughtful moods again. When she spoke again, it was in measured, careful tones.

"Do you know something, Ryuk?" she said.

"I know a lot of 'somethings', but probably not what you're thinking about, unless you'd like to spill."

"When I first heard what the King told me in that tower, about having a father, I didn't believe him. Even when Justin started speaking as though he had memories of parents, I was still more sceptical than not. It just didn't sit right with me, the idea of shinigami choosing mates and producing children…I only accepted it as fact a few months ago."

"I suppose this is the part where I ask why you changed your mind."

"…I suppose it could be."

There was another pause. Eventually, Rem stopped looking at him and stared down at her knees instead.

"…So…why'd you change you mind?"

Rem's head snapped back up, but she went back to looking at her knees before she replied. "Something similar to the reason Justin changed his. Something within my own conciousness confirmed it."

"You remembered your parents?"

"No. Not at all."

"Then what?"

"…Something within myself…I finally understand…I can finally empathize with why Misa was so loyal to Light, even knowing that she was only being used…I finally understand how she must have felt…"

Finally, Rem's head tilted upward, and she looked him in the eye. Ryuk stared straight back. He wondered who was going to break eye contact first…actually; it was probably going to be neither of them. Or both of them at the same time. Ryuk didn't really know how this kind of thing worked.

"Ow!" both shinigami cried as they bonked foreheads.

Ryuk burst into a fit of uncontrollable "hyuk"s, and Rem followed soon after with giggles that were still way too sweet to belong to a shinigami. She may have been way smarter than him, but when it came to this, turns out she was just as ignorant.

"…How about a do-over?" he said as the laughter died down.

They kiss.

END

Hope you enjoyed, and that this is satisfactory to those of you who've been following along, wanting to know how it all ends. Thank you for reading, and for the reviews; I figured for all the support you've given, you all deserved to know how it ended!


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